New Delhi, 03 November (H.S.): Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa has questioned the appointment of the chairperson of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) and the figures related to stubble burning in the state, raising allegations against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its national convenor, Arvind Kejriwal.

Sirsa alleged that Kejriwal had brought his political spokesperson, Reena Gupta, from Delhi and appointed her as the chairperson of the Punjab Pollution Control Board. He claimed that, for the first time in Punjab's history, a person who is neither a Punjabi nor an IAS officer nor a technical expert had been appointed to the post.

Addressing a press conference at the Delhi Secretariat on Tuesday, Sirsa alleged that Rs. 20-25 crore was being spent on advertisements to create an impression that stubble burning had been eliminated in Punjab, even as several FIRs were being registered in connection with such incidents.

Sirsa presented copies of district-wise FIRs registered in Punjab before the media, claiming that the entire bundle of documents contained police cases filed in connection with stubble-burning incidents.

He further alleged that the AAP government in Punjab was spending Rs. 25 crore on advertisements, with Reena Gupta being projected as the face of the campaign. On the one hand, he claimed, farmers were facing police cases, while on the other, the government maintained that no fires were being reported and no stubble was being burnt anywhere in the state.

Accusing Kejriwal of taking revenge on Delhi, Sirsa said he also wanted to inform the people of the national capital that the Delhi government and its residents had collectively achieved a significant milestone over the past decade. He claimed that Delhi recorded 220 days of clean air this year, the highest number in the last 10 years, and described October 2023 as the cleanest October in a decade.

Sirsa appealed to Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia not to subject Delhi to what he described as such injustice. He alleged that the AAP had damaged Delhi during its 10 years in power, adding that the national capital was now gradually returning to its former character. He claimed that pollution levels in Delhi were steadily declining and that residents were increasingly opting for electric vehicles as part of their efforts to improve air quality.

The minister said people in Delhi were collectively fighting the battle against pollution and urged the Punjab government to put an end to stubble burning. He alleged that after Delhi had experienced cleaner air over the past year, stubble-burning incidents in Punjab had once again contributed to the deterioration of air quality in the national capital.

Sirsa also claimed that Bathinda in Punjab had become the most polluted city in the country under the AAP government and Kejriwal's political leadership. He alleged that after damaging Delhi through pollution, the party had now brought Punjab to a similar situation within five years, setting what he described as a new record.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar