Javadekar hits out at Kejriwal for 'politicising' pollution in Delhi

A day after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked school students to write letters to his Punjab and Haryana counterparts over pollution caused by stubble burning, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar slammed him for "politicising" issue and said it was "unfortunate" that he was indulging in blame game.

Javadekar said that by bringing students on board issue, chief minister was presenting m as "villains".

"I feel it is very unfortunate that Delhi chief minister is politicising issue of pollution and indulging in blame game instead of finding a solution. He is instigating children to send letters to Haryana and Punjab chief ministers to present m in a bad light and as villains," minister said on Saturday.

Javadekar said air pollution is a problem which has aggravated in past 15 years and is w being remedied by Narendra Modi government.

"We have started holding inter-state meetings of NCR ministers and officials. All stakeholders need to act toger and t blame each or," he said.

" solution to air pollution is t with a 'switch on' and 'switch off' mode. It is with sustained efforts that pollution will be brought down. All state ncies and people need to participate in this effort to combat it," minister said.

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Taking a dig at Delhi chief minister, Javadekar, who is also minister for information and broadcasting, said that instead of spending crores of rupees on advertisements, Delhi government should focus on using money for larger good.

"I am t interested in blaming anyone today. Instead of spending Rs 1,500 crore on advertisements, Delhi government should give it to farmers of Punjab and Haryana to tackle pollution and acquire machines that would help in reducing pollution. Any blame game will t reduce pollution, but efforts in right direction will," he said.

Javadekar also hit out at Delhi government for t releasing funds for construction of Phase IV of Metro and eastern peripheral expressway until courts directed it to do so.

Appealing to ncies to work toger, minister later tweeted, "I appeal to all ncies to work toger in combating air pollution and give relief to people and t indulge in cheap politics."

He also urged people to use cycles instead of motor vehicles as much as possible and travel by public transport.

Listing out achievements of Modi government, Javadekar said Metro rail projects have paced ahead under prime minister's leadership, 60,000 heavy duty trucks have stopped passing through Delhi after completion of eastern and western peripheral expressways, Badarpur power plant was closed and 24x7 monitoring of industries was initiated.

"w, with more than 300 km of Metro network, it is providing environment-friendly public transport to more than 50 lakh people. Sadly, in this issue as well, Delhi government did t give ir share and courts had to order m to provide payment," he said.

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