The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday came down heavily on the Delhi government, asking what major steps were taken to curb pollution in the national capital. The panel has also banned any kind of construction work across Delhi/NCR region in the next seven days.
“Diwali and crop burning are known factors, did you hold any meeting in August and September to prepare the state to tackle pollution?” the panel asked the Aam Aadmi Party regime. “Do you have any data that shows reduction of smog? Why are you sprinkling water through cranes and not helicopters?” NGT asked further, according to ANI.
Delhi :Congress Women’s Wing protest against state govt over pollution, outside CM Arvind Kejriwal’s residence pic.twitter.com/i8fAUXgbaS
— ANI (@ANI_news) November 8, 2016
The environmental panel then trained its guns at the Punjab government, asking what steps it had taken to put a check on crop-burning and also how many machines it distributed to the farmers for agricultural waste disposal. The NGT also lashed out at the Haryana government, accusing it of having done nothing for controlling smog and pollution.
Earlier in the day, Delhi health minister Satyendra Jain had claimed that 70 per cent of the pollution was due to Punjab and Haryana. The AAP government has put in place several measures to control the situation, including closure of schools and ban on constructions. On Monday, the New Delhi Municipal Council(NDMC) and Delhi government’s Public Works Department (PWD) had sprinkled water on roads in various places across the national capital.
