Delhi air pollution: Crop burning in neighbouring states needs to stop, says Arvind Kejriwal

Kejriwal has called for a solution to crop stubble burning in the regions surrounding Delhi.

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has called for steps in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to prevent crop stubble burning from turning Delhi into a 'gas chamber' every year. He said this after a torrid morning in which a public emergency was declared because of the literally sky-high levels of air pollution.

"Delhi has become a gas chamber. Every year this happens during this part of year. We have to find a soln to crop burning in adjoining states," Kejriwal tweeted.

Delhi has become a gas chamber. Every year this happens during this part of year. We have to find a soln to crop burning in adjoining states — Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) November 7, 2017

"All of us together have to find a soln to this," he added in another tweet.

Though Kejriwal did not specifically name the states in which the crop stubble burning take splace each year, his call to work together involves mostly working with BJP government.

Farmers in Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand and western Uttar Pradesh set fire to the stubble of their crop during this time of the year to clear the fields for the next sowing season. When combined with falling temperatures and weather patterns that push the smoke southwards and keep them locked in the region, this causes heavy smoke and smog throughout the area. The issue comes into acute focus each year, especially around Diwali.

In 2016, the situation was worse than ever before as smoke from the raging forest fires in Uttarakhand too descended to the plains.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had taken a stern stand on the issue and called for ways to end the practice of stubble burning. The Punjab government only last week had told the NGT that stubble burning had reduced about 30 percent this year.

The issue of crop burning has the potential to become a hot-button political issue, pitting urban interests against the agrarian concerns of the rural belts.