POLLUTION POLITICS: 'Targeted use of crackers' vs 'inability to enforce ban'

ENVIRONMENT minister Gopal Rai on Monday blamed the BJP for the sudden drop in air quality, holding the party responsible for the "targeted" use of firecrackers in the national Capital on Diwali.

- ANUP VERMA 

Rai alleged BJP leaders kept instigating people to burst crackers. "If the BJP had banned firecrackers in UP and Haryana after the SC order, pollution would not have gone up in NCR," he said. A huge quantity of firecrackers was available under the patronage of UP and Haryana governments, the minister said.

The BJP, however, denied charges accusing the ruling AAP governments in Delhi and Punjab of failing to take steps to enforce the SC ban.