Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

As the health emergency in the national capital continues and the Delhi government being reprimanded by the NGT, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is thinking on some other measures than the odd-even.

The National Green Tribunal, on Tuesday once again pulled down on the Delhi government for not understanding the seriousness of the situation and taking appropriate measures to deal with it. During the hearing, NGT rejected the plea filed by the Aam Aadmi Party to re-look into the exemption condition that the committee has put forth. In the previous hearing, NGT had said that the odd-even scheme can be implemented but no exemption will be given to women and two-wheelers. AAP had filed a petition to reconsider the exemption as the Delhi government was unable to provide the adequate number of buses required, but the NGT rejected the plea and odd-even was called off.

Other than the implementation of the odd-even scheme, in order to find another solution for the rising environmental problems in Delhi, the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had written letters to Chief Ministers of Haryana and Punjab, seeking a meeting to discuss the issue. Taking a dig at Kejriwal for failing to curb the emergency like situation in Delhi, the Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar replied, asking Kejriwal to rise about the electorate interest and confront the stubble burning issue that is rampant in Delhi as well.

In his letter, he had written that “I believe no single person, government or organisation can improve the air quality of Delhi. Such collective action problem requires everyone to do their bit and more importantly a strong mechanism for enhancing the outcome of such constructive steps.”

After this scathing exchange of letter, Manohar Lal Khattar on 13 Nov said that to find a solution to this prevailing health issue he is ready to meet Kejriwal, anywhere, anytime. While Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had said that the situation demanded the intervention of the centre, as it has inter-state implications.

After the views of the experts, the Delhi government had alleged that the toxic smog was engulfing Delhi and surrounding areas due to the practice of burning of crop residue by farmers of Punjab and Haryana region during the winter season every year.

Responding to these allegations Khattar had questioned the Delhi government as to what measures they had taken to stop the subtle burning as even in Delhi 40,000 families were cultivating around 40,000 hectares.

Regarding the meeting, the Haryana CM had said that he would most probably be in Delhi on 13 and 14 Nov. “You may feel free to call me to fine tune a mutually convenient date, time and venue for the meeting,” Khattar said to Kejriwal. Later, during a telephonic conversation, the two ministers decided to meet on Wednesday, 15 Nov.

As per the latest updates, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has left for Chandigarh to meet Manoharlal Khattar. Meanwhile, Kejriwal had also tweeted to Punjab Chief Minister, requesting him to meet in Chandigarh on 15. However, Captain Amarinder Singh ruled out the meeting, asking Kejriwal not to politicise the serious matter.

Amarinder Singh said that “I fail to understand why the Delhi chief minister was trying to force his hand, knowing well that any such discussion would be meaningless and futile.”

Punjab Chief Minister also alleged that the problems faced by Delhi and Punjab were entirely different. Delhi was suffering this because of the urban pollution caused by mismanaged transportation and unplanned industrial development.

Also, apart from holding meetings with his counterparts, even though after the petition being rejected, the Delhi government had once again filed a fresh petition which would allow them to implement odd-even.

In the second petition as well, the Delhi government has requested the exemption of women and children for a year at least, or give them the time to add 2,000 buses to the state’s transport system. The petition also requested the NGT to ask the neighboring states also to implement the scheme.