Shehzad Poonawalla charges the Delhi government of having a “anti-Sanatan mindset”

Shehzad Poonawalla, a BJP spokesperson, criticized the Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday for the pollution levels in the city and the Yamuna River, calling the party a “liar” and possessing a “anti-Sanatan ministerset.” The BJP representative also accused the AAP of playing a “blamegame” over pollution and politicizing holidays like Diwali and Chhath Puja.

Speaking to ANI, Poonawalla said, “AAP is the biggest liar. They used to blame stubble burning in Punjab for air pollution. Since the AAP government has been formed in Punjab, they started blaming UP and Haryana. They can even blame the Israel-Lebanon war for this.”

“Arvind Kejriwal had spoken ‘on record’ that he would not blame anyone and will make River Yamuna as clean as River Thames by 2025. Today Gopal Rai is saying that the people of UP are contaminating and polluting the River Yamuna. The stretch between Okhla to Wazirabad creates 80 per cent pollution in the river. The sewage treatment plants are not effectively working,” said Poonawalla.

Poonawalla also targeted AAP over the contamination in River Yamuna and said, “Chhath puja is being celebrated and even so the pollution level in River Yamuna is on an all time high with toxic foams floating all over. People especially women will come to give arghya to Sun God and pray to Chhathi Maiya in the river. During this, one can imagine how it will affect their health.”

For the sixth day in a row since Diwali, Delhi’s air quality remained “very poor” on Wednesday morning, with a thin layer of smog engulfing sections of the national capital. Data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) indicates that as of 8 a.m. today, Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was 358. There are serious health hazards associated with the extremely poor air quality levels found in several parts of the city. Since the Yamuna River is still heavily polluted, thick hazardous foam was observed floating on it in Kalindi Kunj.

The Delhi administration was questioned by the Supreme Court on Monday about how the national capital’s ban on detonating firecrackers to reduce air pollution was broken during the Diwali festivities. The Delhi administration was requested by a panel of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Augustine George Masih to submit an affidavit detailing the measures implemented to address pollution and enforce the city’s firecracker ban. The bench noted that there are numerous newspaper reports claiming that the firecracker ban was not enforced and stated that it wanted the Delhi government to promptly explain why the ban was barely enforced.