Pollution increasing in Delhi due to stubble burning in neighbouring states: Kejriwal

He appealed to the governments of Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh to understand their responsibilities towards reducing stubble burning and controlling pollution. ''For the past one month, I have been tweeting data of air quality in Delhi. Pollution has increased in the last 3-4 days and it is due to stubble burning in neighboring states. Farmers in neighboring states are compelled to burn stubble as their governments are doing nothing for them (towards stopping stubble burning),'' Kejriwal said in an event organized to lay the foundation stone of a 1,430-bed new government hospital in Shalimar Bagh. The chief minister said the national capital has two kinds of pollution, one is its internal pollution that emanates from vehicles, dust, while the other one is because of stubble burning in neighboring states of Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. Kejriwal said the Delhi government is doing every bit from anti-dust campaign to spraying of bio-decomposer liquid in fields to controlling inbound pollution, but the neighboring states were yet to act. 

''To stop stubble burning in Delhi, we sprayed bio-decomposer solution in fields. Farmers don't need to burn stubble after spraying it. Why can't state governments of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh spray this liquid?'' Kejriwal asked. 

''I request governments of neighboring states to understand their responsibilities (towards stopping stubble burning) and help their farmers responsibly,'' he said. 

At 2 pm on Sunday, the AQI in Delhi was 339, which is in the ''very poor'' category. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered good, 51 and 100 satisfactory, 101 and 200 moderate, 201 and 300 poor, 301 and 400 very poor, and 401 and 500 severe. 

Earlier in the day, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai also reiterated similar concerns and said that air quality in the city was deteriorating because of increasing incidents of stubble burning in neighboring states. 

He also appealed for a responsible approach from the governments of these states. 

Rai said that it was a normal trend that as the incidents of stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh increase, the air quality starts deteriorating in the city. He said that two days back the AQI was 171 but as the incidents of stubble burning increased in neighboring states, the AQI started getting worse and it was 284 on Sunday. 

''This has been a normal trend. We have appealed to neighboring states to control incidents of stubble burning but to no avail. We have started spraying bio-decomposer in fields as an alternative to stubble burning the similar should be done by neighboring states. 

''We need a responsible approach from (neighboring) states in reducing the number of stubble burning. They should make arrangements to spray bio-decomposer in their states so that pollution can be controlled,'' Rai said. 

He said that to control the city's internal pollution, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government was taking several measures, including spraying of a bio-decomposer solution in fields and also cracking down on violators. 

''We have started an anti-dust campaign and are taking action against violators. From Monday, we will also launch the 'Red Light On, Gadi Off' campaign to reduce vehicular pollution. ''As a long-term solution, we are promoting electric vehicle policy and working on tree plantation issues. We have also shut coal operating Badarpur plan to reduce pollution,'' the environment minister said. 

He also said that awareness campaigns such as appealing to the public to stop the use of the private vehicle at least for one day are also being started.