Delhi Air Pollution: Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa makes big claim — 'AAP forcing Punjab farmers to burn crop' | Watch

Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa has accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of forcing Punjabi farmers to burn crops and stubble ahead of Diwali.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Sirsa showed videos of alleged farmers burning stubble in regions like Tarn Taran and Bathinda.

He said as per PTI, “The Aam Aadmi Party, which has run an incompetent government in Delhi for the last 10 years, has been involved in questionable activities over the past four days... These visuals are from Tarn Taran and Bathinda, notice how people’s faces are covered. Farmers are being forced to burn stubble while concealing their identities.”

Sirsa also accused former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of having banned firecrackers in the region "to garner the votes of a particular community, to appease them".

He also alleged, "Since this morning, Arvind Kejriwal's entire team has been constantly cursing Diwali... Sanjay Singh and his colleagues have been tweeting since last night, asking to stop celebrating Diwali. Aam Aadmi Party president is cursing the BJP. Diwali isn't the BJP's festival."

"It's a Sanatan Hindu festival, and why are you cursing the festival? Why are you using words against the festival? But to say that BJP is celebrating Diwali, to say that BJP is bursting crackers like this, to say that BJP is doing such wrong things, I feel very embarrassed..." he said.

Sirsa also said the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi was 341 before Diwali, and it rose to 356 afterwards, up by just 11 points.

"We admit with pride that our government has given people a chance to celebrate Diwali in our traditional way. Due to firecrackers, there is only an increase of 11 points in AQI after Diwali," he said.

"Will the AAP challenge the sacrifice of goats on Eid by our Muslim community? I challenge Arvind Kejriwal to not play religious politics. You fight with us, but do not make religion a part of it," the BJP leader also said, as per PTI.

How is Delhi's air quality after Diwali?

On Tuesday, Delhi woke up to toxic air and thick smog, after a night of bursting firecrackers. The city's air quality plunged to the ‘Very Poor’ category.

Data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) reveals that the AQI of Delhi was around 350 at 8 am on Tuesday.

AQI in the areas of Bawana, Wazirpur, Alipur, Jahangirpuri, and Burari crossing plummeted to above-400 levels.

The Supreme Court, last week, allowed green firecrackers in the Delhi-NCR region on the occasion of Diwali.

"Before Diwali, we started seeing that the AQI was rising, and after Diwali, it was expected that the AQI would rise further. As soon as pollution increases, people with allergies and lung problems face issues like difficulty in breathing, coughing, watery eyes, and other symptoms. Patients have started coming right after the next day of Diwali," Dr Nikhil Modi, Respiratory Medicine Specialist at Apollo Hospitals, told ANI.