Air quality battle: Delhi chief minister challenges AAP chief on winter haze

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta intensified a political showdown on Tuesday, accusing AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal of worsening winter air‑pollution through inaction in Punjab. In a concise post on her verified Facebook account, Gupta shared a short video of plumes of smoke rising from fields in Tarn Taran, calling the scene a “direct failure of the AAP government to protect farmers and urban residents alike."

Gupta reminded her audience that the Central Government had already earmarked financial assistance, supplied modern harvesting equipment, and rolled out subsidy schemes aimed at eliminating the need for open‑field burning. She argued that the Punjab administration, led by Kejriwal’s party, lacked the will to coordinate these assets, forcing smallholder farmers to revert to traditional stubble burning.

"He promised to end the practice within a year, yet years have slipped by while the haze spreads over Delhi," Gupta wrote on the X platform, questioning the sincerity of the commitment.

She also referenced the recent operationalisation of aerial patrols by the Air Quality Management Commission, covering major rice‑producing districts such as Amritsar, Firozpur, and Ludhiana. These patrols are intended to provide real‑time surveillance and to work alongside local fire‑control units and pollution control board officials.

Gupta concluded by asserting that Delhi’s own authorities are deploying “ground‑level innovations and night‑time monitoring” to clear the capital’s air, while the Punjab situation remains a stark illustration of “unkept promises and political negligence.”