NEW DELHI:Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party on Friday hit out at the Congress and BJP alike while welcoming the Supreme Court's decision to appoint its retired judge Justice Madan B. Lokur to monitor stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh amid rising pollution in the capitaal and its surrounding areas.
Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are ruled by the BJP, while Punjab is ruled by the Congress.
"These two parties are forming an alliance to allow stubble burning, " AAP's chief spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said, adding that the Supreme Court decision proves the fact that stubble burning is the key cause behind Delhi's air pollution.
Holding that the Centre as well as the Haryana, UP and Punjab governments have completely failed to control stubble burning, Bhardwaj also alleged that the Centre's opposition to the SC decision shows "how irresponsible" it on the matter of pollution, citing Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's stand against appointment of the monitoring authority.
He even charged the SC mandated environment watchdog EPCA with having also failed to combat stubble burning in the neighbouring states.
"People are now able to feel the toxic haze in the air they breathe and this topic is of supreme concern to entire north India. One need not be an environmental scientist to testify to this. This toxicity in the air is due to stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and is steadily affecting the environment of Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Sahibabad, Gurugram and Greater Noida, " he said.