Congress leader Surjewala slams Centre over Delhi pollution

Chandigarh, Dec 19 (PTI) Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Friday lashed out at the BJP-led Centre over pollution in Delhi for allegedly failing to address the issue and said it is a "national health emergency". He also asked the prime minister to take note of it.

Replying to a question on the worsening pollution in the national capital, Surjewala said Delhi is today the third most polluted city in the world. Out of 100 most polluted cities in the world, half of them are in India, he claimed.

The air quality index (AQI) of Delhi and NCR on average is 500 and at most places, it was in the range of 800-900, he further claimed.

The Modi government has been in power at the Centre for the past 11 years. "Can they shirk from their responsibility?" he asked.

He further said AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal used to blame farmers of Punjab and Haryana until they had their own government in Punjab. He said that instead of addressing the issue, a politics of blaming each other was being played.

He called it a "national health emergency", while speaking to reporters.

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and I raised this issue but the government was not ready to listen, he alleged. He said the prime minister should take note of it and take far-reaching decisions. PTI CHS MNK MNK