Launching a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday over the rising levels of pollution in the national capital, Delhi Chief Minister Atishi called it a result of the saffron party’s “cheap politics.”

On the issue of deteriorating air quality and rising pollution in the River Yamuna, the Delhi CM highlighted the efforts of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab in contrast to the actions of the BJP-led states. “Not just air pollution, pollution in Yamuna has also been increasing over the last few days,” she pointed out.

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“The main reason for the rise in Delhi’s air and water pollution is BJP’s cheap politics,” she contented.

She further said that the AAP government in Punjab has been actively working on combating stubble burning, one of the primary causes of air pollution in the region. “The AAP government in Punjab has worked tirelessly for two years to reduce the incidence of stubble burning. Last year, stubble burning in Punjab was reduced to half,” she said.

The chief minister criticised the BJP for what she called poor management in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in the wake of the surge in farm fires. “If we look at the statistics from Haryana, farm fires have increased by 23% while they have increased by 70% in UP,” she noted, suggesting that the BJP was abdicating its responsibility towards curbing pollution in the states ruled by it.

Anand Vihar, one of the areas with the highest Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi, was specifically mentioned by the CM. She cited the diesel-run buses entering the national capital from neighbouring states as a major contributor to the pollution.

“If we compare the buses in Anand Vihar with that of Delhi, all run on CNG or electricity, the contribution of the former to the air pollution is maximum. It’s because the buses coming from UP and Haryana run on diesel. An important factor for the pollution seen in the Anand Vihar area is that the thousands of diesel-run buses coming from UP,” Atishi explained.

She asked why the governments of Haryana and UP had not taken steps to introduce cleaner fuel alternatives in their public transport systems. “Why can’t the Haryana and UP governments introduce CNG and electric buses in their fleet,” she asked.

Atishi also cited the brick kilns in the National Capital Region (NCR) which significantly contribute to the rising pollution levels. “In NCR, there are 3,800 brick kilns which contribute a lot to the pollution levels in Delhi,” she added.

The Delhi chief minister’s remarks came a day after the BJP targeted the AAP government over the issue of air pollution and frothing in the Yamuna. The BJP accused AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal of only spreading lies about cleaning Yamuna in the last 10 years.