War of words b/w L-G & AAP intensifies over drive to curb pollution

New Delhi: A war of words between the Delhi L-G's office and the AAP government over the "Red Light On, Gaadi Off" campaign continued for the second day on Friday, with the former accusing city Environment Minister Gopal Rai of "lying" about the date of its launch and Rai questioning the lieutenant governor's seriousness about the pollution issue.

Setting the stage for a fresh confrontation with L-G V K Saxena, the Aam Aadmi

Party government in Delhi had said on Thursday it is postponing the launch of the campaign as the L-G's office is yet to approve it.

Sources in the L-G's office said on Friday that Rai did not speak the truth about the date of the campaign launch and claimed that the AAP did so to coerce Saxena into taking a decision.

On the other hand, Rai accused Saxena of making excuses for not giving a timely approval for the campaign and questioned his seriousness about curbing pollution in the national capital.

The month-long "Red Light On, Gaadi Off" campaign aims at encouraging drivers to turn off the ignition of their vehicles while waiting at traffic signals.

Rai had claimed on Thursday that the file on the campaign was sent to Saxena on October 21.

The sources said Saxena was out of office due to prior commitments on Thursday.

"Rai lied to the people of Delhi that the Red Light On, Gaadi Off campaign was to be launched on October 28.

The file sent to the L-G by

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal clearly mentions the

date of launch as October 31," a source said.

The sources further claimed that the file was sent to the L-G secretariat on October 21, which was a Friday, after which the offices "fully" opened only on October 27 (Thursday), following the weekend, a gazetted holiday and a restricted holiday.

"The files sent to the L-G are not perfunctory in nature. They require proper consideration and application of mind," a source said.

Addressing a press conference on Friday, Rai said, "The L-G has withheld the file of the Red Light On, Gaadi Off campaign on the pretext of leave from work. He has made three excuses for not signing the file. He should sign the file immediately instead of making excuses. Fighting against pollution is the collective responsibility of all of us.

"The L-G, who gave the excuse of holidays, had issued statements on October 26 criticising the chief minister regarding the preparations for Chhath. I want to know if his office is open to do politics and closed to protect Delhiites from

pollution. The L-G is either not aware of the seriousness of the pollution issue or making excuses for not giving a timely nod to the Red Light On, Gaadi Off drive."

Talking about the confusion regarding the date on which the permission was sought from the L-G and the date of the campaign launch, the minister said earlier, the plan was to roll out the drive on October 31.

"When the file was sent to the chief minister's office, the date of October 31 was written in it. But apprehending increasing pollution levels after Diwali, it was decided to to shift it to October 28 on the chief minister's instructions and the media was informed about it on October 22, which might have been overlooked by the L-G, so he is resorting to such absurd excuses," he said.