The Delhi government on Tuesday dismissed claims that Diwali fireworks led to the city’s pollution, accusing those making the link of being “admirers of Aurangzeb and Akbar” with vested interests.
Lashing out at AAP for crticising the Delhi government’s handling of pollution in the national capital, Delhi’s environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that the party was deliberately bringing Diwali, Sanatana Dharma, and Hinduism into the picture.
“This 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…,” Sirsa said.
He also accused former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of banning firecrackers in the city during the AAP regime to “garner the votes of a particular community”.
“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,” Sirsa said.
He later lashed out at claims linking Diwali celebrations to the rise in pollution levels in the city and said: “Those who are blaming Diwali for this, it is a lie. This is being done only to please some section. The admirers of Aurangzeb and Akbar are saying this; those who had put Tipu Sultan’s photo in the Vidhan Sabha are saying this.”
The Environment Minister also noted that this year’s post-Diwali rise in pollution levels in Delhi was significantly lower compared to previous years. Presenting data during a press conference, Sirsa said that the difference between the Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded before and after Diwali was only 11 points, and asked: “Will you hold Diwali responsible for this? Will you hold the faith of all the Sanatanis and Hindus in Delhi accountable? What is the fault in this?”.
According to Sirsa, during Diwali in 2020, when firecrackers were used, PM2.5 levels rose from 414 before the festival to 435 after, an increase of 21 points. In 2021, the rise was 80 points, and in 2024, even with firecrackers banned, the AQI went up from 328 before Diwali to 360 after, an increase of 32 points, the minister said.
Earlier today, AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj had raised questions on pollution levels in Delhi, asking why the data for PM2.5 and PM10 levels from Diwali night, starting 7 pm on October 20 to 6 am on October 21, were unavailable.
“Earlier there was a doubt that BJP’s Delhi Govt had some arrangements with multi crore “Fire Cracker Lobby”, but now it’s almost certain. Delhi Govt’s District Magistrates, their teams and Delhi Police did NOT stop the illegal sales of normal crackers though SC permission was for “Green Crackers” only,” Bharadwaj said in a tweet.
While the Supreme Court had permitted the sale and use of green firecrackers in Delhi-NCR, it was mandated in the order that they can only be burst from 6-7 pm and 8-10 pm. However, people reportedly flouted this mandate, possibly contributing to an increase in pollution levels in the city the next day.
