Amarinder pens letter to Modi on Delhi pollution

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking the Centre's immediate intervention in evolving a consensus to address the problem of pollution in Delhi.

"The situation as it prevails today demands a consensus rising above political affiliations and regional considerations. I look at you, Mr Prime Minister, to initiate the process of evolving that consensus, without further delay," Singh states in the letter.

Singh has further stated that he is "hurt and pained" at the declaration of a public health emergency in the national capital.

"This unprecedented development has exposed the hollowness of our claims of being a progressive and developed nation. How can a country be called developed when its capital city has been reduced to a gas chamber, not by any natural disaster but a series of man-made ones," writes Singh.

The chief minister further expressed the way he has been feeling about lakhs of men and women, and especially senior citizens, who can barely breathe in the toxic air, which is currently evolving in Delhi.

"The state government blames the stubble fires triggered by the farmers in Punjab and Haryana for the smog. Stubble fires supported by the winds blowing in the wrong direction are contributing to the toxic levels of air pollution but according to the data from several independent agencies, the large-scale industrial pollution, traffic overload, excessive construction activity taking place in Delhi is equally to blame," Singh further wrote in his letter.

Chief Minister Singh has mentioned that in Punjab a law has been enforced against stubble burning to the maximum extent possible.

"The farmers are being penalised but Delhi continues to experiment with its own set of solutions to the woes of traffic and industrial pollution, with little success," he added.

Recalling his meetings with Prime Minister Modi, Singh wrote: "Many times I have suggested a separate bonus amount of Rs 100 per quintal to facilitate stubble management by the farmers."