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‘Delhi has turned into gas chamber’: Arvind Kejriwal blames Punjab, Haryana for pollution

Earlier in the day, Kejriwal distributed breathing masks to students and told them to write to Captain Amarinder Singh and Manohar Lal Khattar asking the respective governments to stop crop burning.

‘Delhi has turned into gas chamber’: Arvind Kejriwal blames Punjab, Haryana for pollution

People wearing masks to protect themselves from inhaling toxic air. (File Photo: AFP)

As pollution levels spiked in the national capital, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday blamed Haryana and Punjab governments for Delhi’s deteriorating air quality.

Kejriwal said that Delhi has turned into a gas chamber due to smoke from crop burning in the neighbouring states.

In a tweet, the Chief Minister urged the people to protect themselves from the toxic air by using breathing masks.

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While distributing masks to students earlier today, he asked them to write to “Captain uncle and Khattar uncle”, referring to Captain Amarinder Singh and Manohar Lal Khattar, the Chief Ministers of Punjab and Haryana, respectively.

“Please write letters to Captain uncle and Khattar uncle and say, ‘Please think about our health’,” Kejriwal told the children.

According to the Chief Minister, his government has begun distribution of 50 lakh masks in the national capital.

In another tweet, Kejriwal alleged that the Manohar Lal Khattar and Captain Amarinder Singh governments were forcing its farmers to burn stubble, causing severe air pollution in Delhi.

“Yesterday, people protested at Punjab and Haryana Bhavan and expressed their anger against governments there,” Arvind Kejriwal wrote.

Kejriwal said that his government is distributing two masks to each student in private and government schools as the people are facing difficulty in breathing.

Meanwhile, according to SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research) India, the Air Quality Index (AQI) docked at 412 in Delhi which falls in the “very severe” category.

According to the data, the contribution of stubble burning to the haze and air pollution in Delhi-NCR was 35 per cent on Wednesday, it was estimated to be 24 per cent on Thursday and is likely to be 25 per cent on Friday.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal earlier on Tuesday appealed “with folded hands” to Punjab and Haryana to take concrete steps against stubble burning to prevent the national capital from turning into a “gas chamber”.

“I appeal to the Punjab and Haryana governments with folded hands on behalf of the residents of Delhi to take strong steps and prevent Delhi from becoming a gas chamber. At our level, we are making all possible efforts and will continue to do so,” he tweeted in Hindi.

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