North India Faces Air Pollution Crisis Amid Intense Political Debate

North India's severe pollution crisis sparks political blame between UP CM Adityanath, Congress, and AAP. While Yogi defends Diwali crackers, opposition leaders allege government apathy and data manipulation amid rising health concerns.

North India's Pollution Crisis Sparks Political Confrontation

The severe post-Diwali air pollution crisis across North India has snowballed into a fierce political confrontation. While Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath robustly defended festive fireworks, opposition leaders launched blistering attacks against the administration—with the Congress accusing the government of leaving citizens to "God’s mercy" and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) alleging large-scale manipulation of Air Quality Index (AQI) data.

Weighing in on the pollution debate during an appointment letter distribution program in UP, where he handed over letters to 1,146 newly recruited junior assistants and disbursed ₹215 crore under the Mukhyamantri Kisan Durghatna Kalyan Yojana, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath dismissed criticism directed at festive celebrations. Defending the bursting of crackers, Adityanath said, "You celebrated Diwali, and several people are saying that it caused pollution. I said, 'Don't worry; pollution would be mitigated as well'. Nobody says anything to those who polluted the entire system with their corrupt misdeeds. But if the public burst crackers one day, it would create pollution. If pollution happened, it would be mitigated as well. No problem. It is good that people celebrated Diwali with 'dhoom-dhadaka' and burst crackers. We decided not to impose any prohibitions. I, too, was in the middle of fireworks in Ayodhya. When someone celebrates a festival, people speak up about pollution, but not when someone does anything wrong."

Opposition Criticism and Health Concerns in Delhi

Meanwhile, in the national capital, Delhi Congress leader Devendra Yadav criticised the government over the worsening air pollution in the national capital, alleging that no effective steps had been taken to control pollution. He made the remarks after visiting Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP), where he met patients affected by poor air quality. “The situation in Delhi is constantly getting worse due to pollution. And it seems like the government has left the public to the mercy of God. We’re currently at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, and we’ve met with some patients here. The situation is very bad," Yadav said.

Yadav claimed that the number of patients visiting the hospital had been rising over the past few days since Diwali and described the pollution situation as extremely serious. “Since Diwali, and if I say even before that, there has been absolutely no check on the pollution, and it just keeps increasing. The government hasn’t made any effort to reduce it. Because of this, the people living here are leading a life that is worse than hell. In the past few days, the number of patients here has been steadily rising," he said.

He said the situation has worsened a lot here and people travelling to Delhi are being affected by the pollution, highlighting a case where a woman who came from Mumbai for just 2 days could not speak, let alone get up and walk, due to pollution. “We’re trying to help those who are asthmatic or affected by the bad air, including some locals and some people from out of town. The condition is so bad that we just met a patient who had come all the way from Mumbai. She arrived two days ago to attend a wedding, but due to the severe air pollution, she fainted and she couldn’t even speak, let alone get up and walk. We spoke to her attendant, who told us she suddenly fainted and has been admitted to the hospital for the last two days. This is the situation across Delhi.”

Yadav also criticised the government over its response to the pollution crisis and referred to reports of extremely high Air Quality Index (AQI) levels, alleging that the government did not focus on any permanent solution for the last 12-13 years. “On paper, this government is constantly meditating. But we all saw the AQI reach 1700 to 2000. This is the condition of Delhi over the last 12-13 years because no permanent solution was ever focused on. This situation has arisen because of that. I remember when the Congress government was in power, we worked to increase the green cover. I remember when buses used to run on diesel, causing pollution. It was the Congress government that decided to phase that out and switch to CNG. Similarly, it was the Congress government that converted people dependent on kerosene to LPG. They worked to improve public transport. They did, but no such efforts are being made by the current government or the previous Aam Aadmi Party government, which ruled Delhi for about 12 years. No one paid attention to this, and the situation in Delhi has been continuously worsening,” he alleged.

Congress leader Priyanka Kakkar, who accompanied Yadav during the hospital visit, also criticised the government over the pollution situation and alleged that no concrete action was being taken. "Today we’re here with Delhi State President Devender Yadav. We visited this hospital and saw how many people are sick. Delhi’s air is just toxic. We met a patient who came here from Mumbai for a wedding and fainted from the air. She couldn’t breathe or walk and is now admitted. Delhi’s air has left things in such a terrible state. It’s just a blame game here, and now everyone is left to God’s mercy,” Kakkar said.

She further alleged that both the Aam Aadmi Party and BJP governments were engaged in arguments over pollution data instead of addressing the concerns of residents. “People will only get some relief if the wind blows or it rains, because both governments, whether it’s the Aam Aadmi Party or the BJP are just busy arguing about whose data is fake. No one is telling us who will actually work for the people,” she added.

AAP Alleges Data Manipulation

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj also accused the Delhi government of manipulating Air Quality Index (AQI) data, alleging that monitoring stations were shut down on Diwali night and water was sprinkled on stations at pollution hotspots to influence pollution readings. Speaking outside the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) office, Bharadwaj alleged that similar measures were adopted last year to prevent firecracker-induced pollution from being recorded and claimed that the matter had been challenged in the Supreme Court.

"Last year, on the night of Diwali, the government shut down AQI monitoring stations so that the firecracker-induced pollution could not be measured. This was challenged in the Supreme Court. Supreme Court ordered CAQM to file a status report on this. We are here at the CAQM office. This year too, the Delhi Government stopped taking data at AQI monitoring stations on the night of Diwali. Water is being sprinkled on monitoring stations at pollution hotspots. New AQI monitoring stations are being set up in greener areas to bring down AQI and deceive people. We wrote a complaint to the CAQM Chairman on 4th November. It has been almost 10 days, but CAQM has not taken any action. They have not responded to our letter," said Bhardwaj.

The AAP leader further alleged that CAQM had not responded to the party's request for a meeting with its chairman, despite a reminder seeking an appointment. He criticised the commission for not acting on the complaint and said party representatives had come to meet its officials but were denied entry. "We wrote to them once again, seeking time to meet the Chairman. CAQM did not allot us a time. CAQM is blindfolded like Dhritarashtra. What is the use of such a CAQM? We did not come here to stage a sit-in protest or make noise. We came here only to meet them, but they have closed the gate. They are not ready to meet us. Police have been sent here with a vehicle to detain us. The Govt is indulging in 'theft' in broad daylight and committing fraud with AQI data, and CAQM is blindfolded like Dhritarashtra," he added. (ANI)

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