On Friday (3rd November), Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said that BS3 petrol and BS4 diesel vehicles coming from Uttar Pradesh have been contributing to the deterioration of the air quality index in the national capital. Rai’s statement came after Anand Vihar’s AQI at night touched 999 making it extremely hazardous.
Gopal Rai was inspecting Anand Vihar bus terminus late in the night. Meanwhile, for the third day in a row, the air quality in Delhi remained severe on Saturday, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 413 recorded at 7 a.m.
Blaming Uttar Pradesh for the pollution in Delhi, Gopal Rai said, “Delhi government has been trying its best to curb the air pollution. Anand Vihar has the highest AQI. I came here and found out that all buses are BS3 and BS4 coming from Uttar Pradesh. I appeal to Yogiji to not send these vehicles to Delhi. Electric buses and CNG vehicles ply in Delhi. Bus depot manager and traffic staff have also been careless to allow these banned vehicles inside Delhi.”
After blaming the neighbouring state, the AAP minister Gopal Rai said, “I appeal to the people of Delhi to use public transport including metro and buses to control pollution due to vehicles. The decision on the further closure of schools in Delhi will be taken on the basis of air quality on 6th November.”
Gopal Rai is not the first minister in the Delhi government to point fingers at other states rather than solving the air pollution issue in Delhi. Before him, Saurabh Bhardwaj also highlighted on Friday (3rd November) that the severity levels in Noida, Gurugram, and Faridabad surpass those in Delhi. He said, “The severity conditions that are in Noida, Gurugram, or Faridabad are higher than in Delhi. It is not good to defame the people of Delhi.”
Blaming BJP-ruled neighbouring states Haryana and UP, he added, “Delhi is the only state where a diesel generator is banned. In Noida and Gurgaon, most of the electricity comes from generators. Brick kilns are banned in Delhi. There are CNG and electric buses in Delhi. Did Haryana and UP have electric buses?”
As there is an AAP government in Punjab, Saurabh Bhardwaj gave a virtual clean chit to the stubble burning incidents in Punjab. This came in sharp contrast to the AAP’s historic stand of blaming the stubble burning in Punjab for the pollution in the national capital. Saurabh Bhardwaj said, “We are doing everything. Punjab’s number of stubble burnings is in front of everyone. It has decreased as compared to past years. Does the centre not have any responsibility?”
Notably, an air emergency was declared in Delhi with its air quality index (AQI) plummeting into ‘severe’. The AQI in Delhi was 460 at 7 a.m. on 3rd November (Friday) and approached 500 in several areas of the city.
After waking up to a thick layer of toxic smoke on 2nd November (Thursday), the capital region’s air quality quickly dropped to the ‘severe’ zone by 5 p.m. and prompted the administration to implement the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) Stage III which prohibits the use of vehicles with older emissions standards in several National Capital Region (NCR) districts and closed Delhi’s primary schools for the next two days.