NEW DELHI: With pollution levels surging in Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday accused the BJP of not shutting down toll plazas.
There was no immediate reaction from the BJP-ruled Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) or the party itself.
AAP Delhi unit chief Saurabh Bharadwaj pointed out that despite a Supreme Court ban on toll tax collection within Delhi, vehicles are still being stopped at toll plazas, leading to congestion, avoidable emissions and a steady deterioration of air quality across the city.
“Hopeless Situation. Against the directions of Supreme Court, vehicles are being stopped for collecting toll tax at all tolls. These toll barriers around Delhi have become Hotspots for spreading pollution in Delhi. Why can’t the BJP ruled MCD & Delhi Govt do their basic works instead of nautanki?” Bharadwaj wrote on X. Sharing a video from the Ghazipur toll plaza, Bharadwaj highlighted the on-ground reality through an AAP karyakarta who visited the site.
In the video, the AAP karyakarta said that Delhi was in a dire state, with the city battling severe pollution on one hand while the BJP-run MCD remained focused on collecting money at toll points on the other.
Delhi choked under a thick blanket of smog on Monday morning, with the average Air Quality Index (AQI) settling in the ‘severe’ category at 402.
The air quality was ‘severe’ at 22 stations, ‘very poor’ at 14 and poor at one station. While Vivek Vihar in East Delhi recorded an AQI of 456, the highest amongst all stations, data for the three remaining stations was not available.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 to 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 to 200 ‘moderate’, 201 to 300 ‘poor’, 301 to 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 to 500 ‘severe’.
Delhi’s air quality is likely to remain in the ‘very poor’ category for the next three days. The outlook for the subsequent six days is that the air quality is likely to fluctuate in the ‘very poor’ to ‘severe’ band, according to the Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS).