BJP's ideology favours rising air pollution: Delhi minister Gopal Rai

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai. File Pic

The ideology of the BJP favours rising air pollution levels as the party voiced support to bursting of firecrackers but did not help the Punjab government provide a cash incentive to farmers for not burning crop residue, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai alleged on Tuesday.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena would not have stopped the implementation of the "Red Light on Gaadi off" campaign to reduce vehicular emissions without instructions from the saffron party, Rai told reporters after inspecting a construction site.

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"The mindset and the ideology of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) favour an increase in the air pollution levels. Punjab would have seen a large-scale reduction in stubble burning had the Centre supported the state government's initiative to provide a cash incentive to farmers for not burning crop residue," he said.

"We also saw that those in the BJP were busy supporting the bursting of firecrackers in Delhi (on Diwali). They too live in Delhi. All of us should work together to fight air pollution," Rai said.

The BJP should stop considering air pollution as a problem of a particular political party or of particular states, he added.

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