‘Pollution not rising in city’

The Delhi government and the Opposition on Wednesday clashed in the Assembly over air pollution in the national Capital with BJP leader Vijender Gupta questioning the competence of the city’s pollution control authority.

The ruckus started following Environment Minister Imran Hussain’s written submission to a question that pollution levels were “not rising” in Delhi and that the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) was adequately staffed. Incidentally, the air quality index of the city on Wednesday turned ‘very poor’, as against Tuesday’s poor. Not satisfied with the reply, Gupta alleged that the government has failed to utilise the Budget allocation of Rs 79 crore on this front despite the lapse of nearly 10 months of the current financial year. “We all the know the condition of DPCC. It lacks the potential and infrastructure to tackle air pollution in Delhi.

It has completely failed,” Gupta said, seeking to know the number of polluting industries that have been challaned over the last one year. Countering Gupta, the minister accused him of “politicising” the matter and listed the steps taken by the government, including ban on DG sets and the closure of Badarpur plant till January 31, to tackle pollution. “The amount of work AAP government has done on this front is unprecedented. The Opposition leader should also elaborate what the BJP had done when it was in power,” Hussain said.