Delhi L-G writes to Punjab CM over stubble burning

Vinai Kumar Saxena wrote a letter to Punjab CM on the issue of rising pollution in Delhi

Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Friday wrote a letter to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on the issue of rising pollution in the national capital asking him to take urgent measures to control parali (stubble) burning in his State. Mr. Mann responded by saying the L-G should not do politics on “such a serious issue”.

Mr. Saxena said that the incidents of parali burning had increased by 19% between October 24 and November 2, as compared to the same period last year, and added that it has “once again turned Delhi into a gas chamber”. “As on 02nd November, 2022, alone, out of the total 3,825 case of parali burning in six States i.e. Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, Punjab reported 3,634 cases, while Delhi reported zero,” the letter read.

Meanwhile, the air quality in the national capital remained under the “severe” category. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal announced the closing of primary schools in the city, while also saying that his government was thinking about implementing the Odd-Even scheme.

In response, Mr. Mann accused Mr. Saxena of “hindering” the works of the Delhi government. “L-G sir, you are hindering the works of the elected government. You stopped the ‘red light on, car off’ campaign and are doing politics by writing to me? It’s not right to do politics on such a serious issue,” he said in a tweet in Hindi.

Mr. Saxena also said that he held discussions with Mr. Kejriwal earlier in the day over the issue and called Mr. Mann over the phone but “I was informed that you were in meetings”. He added that he had to write the letter as he “did not receive a call in reciprocation”.

The L-G also took on the Delhi government saying it had “gone out of the way to promote and publicise a bio-decomposer, vide extensive and large scale advertisements in newspapers and TV by spending crores of rupees”.

“It is surprising that despite these initiatives and interventions, the cases of stubble burning particularly in your (Mr. Mann’s) State have not only unabated, but increased tragically,” he wrote.