Stubble burning in Punjab behind Delhi’s post-Diwali haze: Manjinder Sirsa

New Delhi: Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Tuesday accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of Punjab of forcing farmers to burn crop residue to send pollution levels up in the national capital.

The minister also showed videos, purported to be of stubble burning in Punjab, at a press conference to back his claim.

"The farmers in Punjab are being forced to burn stubble in the fields by the AAP government. The highest number of parali burning incidents occurred in AAP-ruled Punjab on Diwali night," Sirsa said.

He claimed that while AAP leaders "condemned the Delhi CM, the BJP and Sanatan Dharm followers over celebration of Diwali and bursting of crackers," the real reason behind worsening air quality was stubble burning in Punjab.

Sirsa said the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi was 341 before Diwali, and it rose to 356 afterwards, up by just 11 points.

"We admit with pride that our government has given people a chance to celebrate Diwali in our traditional way. Due to firecrackers, there is only an increase of 11 points in AQI after Diwali," he said.

The minister also alleged that the AAP was "playing religious politics." "Will the AAP challenge the sacrifice of goats on Eid by our Muslim community? I challenge Arvind Kejriwal to not play religious politics. You fight with us, but do not make religion a part of it," the BJP leader said.

Earlier in the day, Delhi residents woke up to a thick haze, as air quality plummeted to the 'red zone' after a night of heavy cracker-bursting.

Last week, the Supreme Court temporarily allowed the sale and use of green firecrackers, restricting it to two hours — from 6 am to 7 am and 8 pm to 10 pm — on October 19 and 20.