New Delhi, Oct 21 (IANS) As a blanket of mild haze engulfed Delhi a day after Diwali, the BJP on Tuesday lashed out at the AAP government in Punjab for its alleged failure to check farm fires that are adding to the national capital’s air quality woes.

Amit Malviya, in charge of the BJP’s National Information and Technology Department, said in a post on X, “Unless Arvind Kejriwal – ruled Punjab stops burning stubble, Delhi and NCR will continue to choke. Stop blaming Deepawali for the sins of the Aam Aadmi Party — it’s their smoke, not the festival’s lamps or firecrackers, that darkens Delhi’s skies. Their dark shadow still looms large over the Capital.”

The BJP leader said, “Unless Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP is defeated in Punjab and farmers are incentivised to relook at their cropping patterns, Delhi-NCR will continue to choke every winter.”

“It’s not that the farmers don’t want to learn anew — it’s that Bhagwant Mann and Kejriwal don’t want to help them with new knowledge and techniques,” he said, adding, “Stop blaming Deepawali and firecrackers”.

He said, “Don’t blame Deepawali for the poor air quality in Delhi-NCR. Officials in Arvind Kejriwal–ruled Punjab have attributed the increase in farm fires to farmers setting paddy stubble ablaze during Diwali celebrations so that the fires could pass off as firecrackers being burst, thereby evading police action.”

He also attached an old video of Kejriwal in which the latter is seen blaming farm fires for a spike in Delhi’s air pollution between October 25 and November 20 every year.

“Listen to Kejriwal explain this phenomenon between October and November every year. You can see how the Aam Aadmi Party is incentivising farmers to increase stubble burning so that the Hindu festival of Deepawali can be maligned,” said Malviya.

In a related development, a day after Diwali, the Delhi Fire Services reported that it received 269 emergency calls on the night of the festival — a drop of nearly 15 per cent as compared to last year.

A top fire official said last year the department received 318 calls related to blazes till midnight on Diwali day.

One of the major fires reported on Monday night was in Janakpuri, in which seven people were rescued by firefighters, he said.

In another incident in Roop Nagar, two fire-fighters received minor injuries while dousing a minor fire, he said.

–IANS

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