Stubble Burning Turned National Capital Into Gas Chamber: Delhi LG Writes To Punjab CM

The Delhi LG mentioned that air pollution has led to health emergency in Delhi and the NCR wherein OPD visits related to pulmonary discomfort/disorder has reportedly witnessed a manifold increase.

Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena has written a letter to Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann stating that stubble burning in the state has converted the national capital into a gas chamber.

The LG took to Twitter to share the letter saying, “Wrote to Hon’ble CM, Punjab yesterday, urging him to take urgent measures to control Parali burning my making farmers willing partners in defeating the deadly pollution in Delhi-NCR.” He further mentioned that volume of Parali fires in Panjab has increased since 2021.

In the letter, the LG wrote, “It is in public knowledge that Air pollution in Delhi has reached extremely dangerous levels, hovering consistently in the ‘severe plus’ category due to smoke, 95% of which is origination g from Parali burning in Punjab.” He further mentioned that incidents of stubble burning have increased by a whopping 19% in the period between October 24, 2022, to November 2, 2022, as compared to the corresponding period in 2021. 

The figures for 2021 and 2022, for the same period, stand at 18,066 and 21,480 respectively, the LG wrote. Saxena said, “As on November 2, out of the total of 3825 cases of Parali burning in 6 states i.e Punjab, Haryana, UP, MP and Rajasthan, Punjab singularly reported 3634 cases, while Delhi reported zero.”

While mentioning that the existing situation is violative of the fundamental right to health and the right to life of citizens, the LG said that this annual phenomenon had been a cause of deep concern at all levels. He further mentioned the ‘bio-decomposer’ saying that the Government of Delhi promoted the use of the same through large-scale advertisements and in newspapers and television by spending crores of rupees. “It is surprising that despite these initiatives, the cases of stubble burning in your state (Punjab) have not only continued unabated but increased tragically, severely affecting the National Capital's air quality,” Saxena wrote.

The LG expressed his displeasure with the unjustifiable blame game by certain elements instead of addressing the grave issue at hand. The LG wrote that he has also requested Haryana CM ML Khattar to look into the matter and has advised Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to engage with Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann in this regard.