Arvind Kejriwal, Manohar Lal Khattar vow to battle smog together

Chandigarh: The chief ministers of Delhi and Haryana, who met here on Wednesday, resolved to put in “sustained efforts” to check pollution and discussed measures to ensure that smog does not envelop the national capital region in the winter of 2017-18.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal held a nearly 90-minute meeting at Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar’s residence here, which primarily focused on air pollution and stubble burning that is a major contributory factor to smog, which has engulfed the national capital and parts of Haryana and Punjab over the past two weeks.

A broad consensus was evolved and a plan of action was worked out at the meeting, in which their environment ministers and other top officials also participated, after which a joint statement was issued.

“We the chief ministers of Delhi and Haryana are happy to have had a very fruitful meeting in Cha-ndigarh today. We recognised our deep and shared concern over the recent episode of heavy smog in our National Capital Region. We agreed upon the need for action on many measures aimed at preventing its re-occurrence in the winter of 2018,” the statement read.

During the discussions, both states agreed that serious heatlh risks to which such smog expose citizens require concrete and quick action on several fronts. “In today’s meeting we covered crop residue burning and vehicular pollution issues. We resolve to put in sustained efforts in pursuance of the jointly identified action points in the coming days, weeks and months. We look forward to covering other sources of air and water pollution in our future discussions.”

The two chief ministers also briefly met the media after their meeting. Mr Kejriwal said states may be separated by territorial boundaries, but nobody has control over the air and joint efforts need to be put in by all stakeholders to check pollution. “Therefore, it is very important that the country’s top political executive, both of the states and the Centre, everyone will have to collectively find a solution to this problem,” he said.

“I believe today’s meeting is just a beginning. It is an indication that to deal with this problem, we are ready to take whatever steps are required to be taken. We had a discussion on crop burning, on vehicular pollution, as also on bypasses which are being built, we had a discussion on how we can introduce CNG vehicles.

“They gave us suggestions that there are some stretches, like for example Delhi-Gurgaon has only one road stretch and if the Dwarka bypass can be expedited, likewise the Badarpur-Ashram stretch,” Mr Kejriwal said, touching upon steps to decongest traffic and bring down pollution levels caused by vehicles.

Mr Khattar said there was genuine concern about smog, which has engulfed the northern states, particularly the NCR. “It has been happening for the last two years. This problem is not related to only one state but it is a common concern. We are taking steps in our respective states whether it is stubble burning or vehicular pollution,” he said.

He said his government has decided to give a subsidy to farmers and government procurement agencies on the purchase of 8-9 implements in order to tackle the stubble burning problem. “This year, the number of incidents of stubble burning has dropped in Haryana. Satellite pictures show we have controlled it to a large extent in Haryana,” he said.

He said Delhi was the nation’s capital and “we will collectively try to ensure smog does not envelop Delhi”.

Mr Kejriwal had earlier said that Mr Khattar had invited him to Chandigarh on Wednesday for the meeting as he could not meet him in Delhi because he was very busy. The Delhi CM sought a meeting with his counterparts from Haryana and Punjab to find a solution to stubble burning in the neighbouring states, a major source of high pollution levels in Delhi.

Punjab chief minister Capt. Amrinder Singh had refused to meet Mr Kejriwal, saying: “It is not a matter for inter-state discussion, and requires the Centre’s intervention at the earliest.” He had also urged Mr Kejriwal not to “politicise” the issue.

The practice of burning of crop residue by farmers of Punjab and Haryana has been blamed for the toxic smog enveloping the region every winter. Mr Kejriwal recently said the Centre and the Haryana, Punjab and Delhi governments should keep political differences aside and come together to find a permanent solution to the stubble burning problem.

Capt. Amarinder Singh also said on Wednesday that “farmers cannot be expected to give up crop residue burning completely” until they are given some viable alternatives.

Asserting that a long-term solution was needed, the Punjab CM said the state government was looking for affordable solutions for this problem. “We are engaged in spreading awareness among farmers on the need to stop burning the stubble, not just for the sake of others but also for their own sake, as they are the worst affected by the air pollution triggered by such burning. However, till we are able to offer them viable solutions, we cannot really expect them to completely give up burning crop residue since it’s a matter of their livelihood and survival,” the CM told PTI in an interview.

Pressing for the Centre’s urgent intervention, Capt. Amarinder Singh said he failed to understand why the Delhi CM was trying to force his hand, knowing well that any such discussion on the issue would be “meaningless and futile”.