The Congress party on Saturday attacked the central government over the deteriorating air quality in the national capital. In a veiled jibe, the Congress taunted
the prime minister over his "400 paar", saying the slogan has come true at least in the context of Delhi's AQI levels. "Abki baar, AQI 400-paar (This time, AQI over 400). The 'pravachanmantri's' (preaching minister's) slogan is coming true when it comes to AQI!," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post in Hindi on X. "Delhi has become the most polluted city in the world. The air is so toxic that breathing has become difficult. Children and the elderly are paying the heaviest price. The crisis in breathing is worsening, and so is the number of patients in hospitals," Ramesh said in his post. "Slogans were tossed into the air; now the air itself has turned to poison!," the Congress leader also taunted.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had coined the "abki baar 400-paar" slogan during the 2024 general elections, urging voters to elect an NDA government with over 400 Lok Sabha seats.
Multiple air quality monitoring stations in the city have been recording AQI in the 'severe' (400-500) category for the past few days, with the national capital's average AQI also breaching the 400-mark on Friday.
On Saturday, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav chaired a meeting to assess measures undertaken in Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan for mitigating air pollution in Delhi-NCR.
He said air pollution does not recognise state boundaries, and called for coordinated implementation of pollution control measures across the national capital region (NCR).
The state governments have been directed to nominate secretary-level officials for seven cities in Haryana, four cities in Uttar Pradesh, and four cities in Rajasthan for implementation of pollution control measures through field visits and submission of weekly reports to the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM).
The minister directed all agencies to ensure strict implementation of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) and called upon NCR states to adopt Delhi's hotspot-focused winter action plan, covering traffic management, work-from-home measures, construction restrictions and prevention of open burning.
(With PTI inputs)
