{"id":57296,"date":"2025-12-18T19:48:31","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T14:18:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/punjabenews.com\/English\/?p=57296"},"modified":"2025-12-18T19:49:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T14:19:17","slug":"prime-minister-is-in-oman-leader-of-opposition-is-in-germany-and-countrys-capital-is-choking-in-pollution-kejriwal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/punjabenews.com\/English\/punjab\/prime-minister-is-in-oman-leader-of-opposition-is-in-germany-and-countrys-capital-is-choking-in-pollution-kejriwal\/","title":{"rendered":"Prime Minister is in Oman, Leader of Opposition is in Germany, and country\u2019s capital is choking in pollution: Kejriwal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Punjab stubble burning not responsible for Delhi\u2019s pollution; AQI across Punjab is between 70 and 100: Arvind Kejriwal<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Punjab E News:<\/span> As Delhi continues to choke under a blanket of toxic air, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal said, the national capital has been reduced to a gas chamber while those in positions of power remain unmoved, with the Prime Minister abroad in Oman and the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Germany. Holding both the Delhi government and the Centre responsible for the worsening crisis, the AAP Chief said pollution cannot be reduced without the Central government taking active responsibility, noting that even official AQI readings crossing 450 are being artificially lowered by spraying water near monitoring stations.<\/p>\n<p>Drawing a stark contrast with the past, AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal said such suffocating conditions were never witnessed during the ten years of the AAP government, when inspection teams and strict enforcement helped control pollution, and warned that today there is neither intent nor action, only manipulation of data, even as cities like Beijing cleaned their air through decisive governance.<\/p>\n<p>During a press conference, Arvind Kejriwal said that the long-standing narrative of Punjab\u2019s stubble burning causing Delhi\u2019s pollution has collapsed. \u201cIt was always said that Delhi\u2019s pollution is because of stubble burning in Punjab. Just a day before yesterday, Punjab CM Bhagwant Singh Mann held a video conference and presented complete data showing that at this moment the AQI of all cities across Punjab is between 70 and 100,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cIf there is no smoke in Punjab and no stubble burning is happening there at this time, then whatever pollution exists in Delhi right now is Delhi\u2019s own pollution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The AAP Supremo said that addressing this pollution requires serious and coordinated action. \u201cTo remove this pollution, both the Delhi government and the Central government need to take appropriate steps,\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n<p>Recalling the decade-long tenure of the AAP government in Delhi, he said such extreme conditions were never seen earlier. \u201cFor ten years, as long as our government was in power in Delhi, we never saw such severe pollution,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Arvind Kejriwal questioned the credibility of official pollution figures, saying even the displayed AQI does not reflect reality. \u201cEven the official AQI being shown is known by everyone to be manipulated. Water is being sprayed around the meters to bring the readings down. Despite that, the AQI still crosses 450 and even crosses 400,\u201d he said. He warned that the real situation is far worse, stating, \u201cIf the actual AQI is measured, it would probably be above 700 or 800. The entire atmosphere is suffocating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The AAP Chief said, \u201cInstead of controlling pollution, their entire focus is on messing with things. Tamper with the AQI. For many days, GRAP-IV was not allowed to be implemented. GRAP-IV has been applied only recently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Highlighting the gap between announcements and ground reality, Arvind Kejriwal said, \u201cGRAP-IV has been announced, but openly across Delhi, construction activities are going on everywhere. GRAP-IV has been implemented only on paper, not in reality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Contrasting this with the measures taken earlier, Arvind Kejriwal said the AAP government had enforced strict action on the ground. \u201cWhen our government was in power, we took several steps. We formed numerous inspection teams to stop garbage burning. At night, in many places, whether guards or people lit fires to keep warm, all such fires were prevented. Many strict measures were taken, because of which pollution was controlled,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Calling the approach of the Central government the most dangerous aspect of the crisis, Arvind Kejriwal said the Prime Minister\u2019s silence was alarming. \u201cThe most dangerous thing is the attitude of the Central government, especially the Prime Minister. Not a single word has come from the Prime Minister. The capital of the country has turned into a gas chamber, and the Prime Minister of that country has nothing to do with pollution,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He questioned how pollution could be reduced in such circumstances. \u201cHow can pollution be reduced? Delhi\u2019s pollution will reduce only when the Central government takes a very active interest in it and works seriously on it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Drawing a global comparison, Arvind Kejriwal referred to Beijing\u2019s experience. \u201cOne and a half decades ago, Beijing\u2019s AQI used to be even worse than ours, and pollution there was far higher than in Delhi. But the government there worked. They showed intent to act. Neither the Delhi government nor the Central government shows any intent at all. Their only intent is to tamper with the AQI, to spray water near meters, to do such things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arvind Kejriwal said this approach reveals the true priorities of those in power. \u201cIf you do things like this, it shows that your intent is not to give relief to people. Your intent is something else altogether,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Referring to a striking observation he heard earlier in the day, Arvind Kejriwal said, \u201cThis morning, I heard someone say that the Prime Minister is in Oman, the Leader of the Opposition is in Germany, and the country\u2019s capital is choking in pollution. No one seems to be worried about pollution. If no one is concerned about pollution, then how will pollution ever be reduced?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Punjab stubble burning not responsible for Delhi\u2019s pollution; AQI across Punjab is between 70 and 100: Arvind Kejriwal Punjab E News: As Delhi continues to choke under a blanket of toxic air, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal said, the national capital has been reduced to a gas chamber while those in positions [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":57297,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,37,21,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest","category-national","category-political-news","category-punjab"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Prime Minister is in Oman, Leader of Opposition is in Germany, and country\u2019s capital is choking in pollution: Kejriwal - 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