Delhi pollution: "Kejriwal's criminal neglect is killing," slams BJP

The BJP leader hit out at Delhi Services Minister and AAP leader Atishi over her statement that "There is no official data available that can tell which source leads to what amount of pollution," hence "no policy can be drafted to reduce this pollution."

Reacting to this, Malviya said that the AAP in 2020 claimed that stubble burning in Punjab is causing air pollution in Delhi.

"As Delhi chokes, here is AAP in 2020: Stubble-burning in Punjab is causing air pollution in Delhi. Strictest action should be taken against Punjab CM. And 2023: We have no official data; we don't know what causes air pollution in Delhi. Kejriwal's criminal neglect is killing," Malviya posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Earlier on Wednesday, AAP leader Atishi said, "There is no official data available that can tell which source leads to what amount of pollution. The problem is that no policy can be drafted to reduce this pollution when the government doesn't know the amount of contribution from a particular pollution source."

Meanwhile, the overall air quality in Delhi continues to remain in the 'Poor' category with the Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 249 on Friday morning, as per the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR)-India.

As per the latest data from SAFAR, the AQI around Delhi University was recorded at 307 (very poor) in the morning hours while the IIT area in New Delhi was at 273, and that in Lodhi Road was recorded at 218 (poor category.)

Further, according to the data, Noida recorded an AQI of 208 and Gurugram 252, both in poor category.

The second phase of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) was implemented in Delhi to reduce the effect of increased pollution.

Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) is a set of guidelines and measures implemented to combat air pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR) of India, which includes Delhi and its surrounding areas. (ANI)