Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal meet, discuss air pollution issue

The meeting took place at a time when the issue of smog has hit the normal life in Delhi.

Khattar called the meeting with his Delhi counterpart as 'fruitful'.

"Held a fruitful meeting with Delhi CM @ArvindKejriwal ji at Chandigarh today. Pollution is a common concern that affects all of us," Khattar tweeted.
Kejriwal and Capt. Amarinder have been exchanging barbs for sometime over the pollution in Delhi with stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana as one of the reasons.

Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh has hit out at Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal over the pollution problem at the national capital, calling the latter a "peculiar man".

Blasting Kejriwal, the Punjab CM said: "Mr Kejriwal is a peculiar person who has views on everything without understanding the situation. There is 20 million ton of paddy straw, where do I ask farmers to store? So Mr Kejriwal doesn't understand this problem."

While the Delhi CM wants to meet the chief ministers of neighbouring states like Punjab and Haryana, Capt. Amarinder feels the Centre can alone solve the problem.

Meanwhile,  the Supreme Court agreed to hear a Public interest litigation (PIL) on Delhi pollution on Monday, media reports said.

The apex court said they can't ignore the air pollution at the national capital.

The air pollution in Delhi has been the burning issue as the air quality index is showing a figure much above the permissible limit.

The Delhi government, late on Saturday, has withdrawn its plan to implement the Odd-Even scheme from Nov 13 to 17, which it had announced to combat the dense smog affecting the National Capital Region.

Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot made the announcement and cited the safety of women as the main reason behind their decision.

Earlier on Saturday, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) gave the go-ahead to the Delhi Government for implementation of the Odd-Even scheme for vehicles  for five days starting on November 13 in order to check air pollution in the city, reports said.

However, it said that two wheelers, women and government employees will now not be exempted from the scheme, though ambulances will be.

During the hearing, the tribunal questioned the Delhi government as to why it was granting exemptions to certain sections if the aim was to improve air quality.

 

Image: CMO Haryana Twitter page