Delhi pollution: AAP protests against CM, bangs plates to 'wake up' BJP govt

New Delhi, Dec 16 (PTI) The AAP on Tuesday held a protest outside the Delhi Secretariat against Chief Minister Rekha Gupta over the toxic pollution levels in the capital and banged plates to "wake up" the government from its "deep slumber".

Led by AAP Delhi unit chief Saurabh Bharadwaj, the protesters raised slogans of "AQI, AQI" and "Pollution ko jaana hoga". They were later detained by police.

Bharadwaj said the Delhi government is in a deep slumber and the AAP banged thalis with spoons to wake it up. If Delhi's pollution is to be reduced, the BJP government must stop "falsehood" and start working honestly, he said.

Sprinkling water at Air Quality Index (AQI) monitoring centres will not reduce pollution and only strict implementation of all Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) restrictions can bring relief, he said.

Bharadwaj questioned Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa over artificial rain, claiming that no such exercise has taken place till date.

"For children and the elderly, this is nothing less than a medical emergency," he said.

Hitting back at the AAP, Sirsa blamed the party for not doing anything to solve the problem of pollution during its 10 years in power.

"Those who ruled Delhi for 10-12 years and gifted this city the disease of pollution are now staging protests against the very disease they created. They left Delhi buried under garbage mountains and smog, and today they pretend to be the saviours of clean air." He said while the AAP government identified only 13 pollution hotspots in Delhi, the BJP dispensation has identified 62 traffic congestion hotspots and initiated focused interventions at each of these locations.

"While some leaders are busy watching movies and doing drama politics, this government is working like a doctor, treating the pollution crisis every single day, hotspot by hotspot, landfill by landfill, and industry by industry. We are correcting the damage done over 10-15 years by previous regimes," Sirsa said. PTI SLB DIV DIV