New Delhi: With the capital cloaked in poisonous haze a day after Diwali, Delhi setting minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa hit again at AAP criticism and accused former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal of urging farmers to burn stubble in Punjab for worsening air pollution within the area.

Addressing a press convention on Tuesday, Sirsa claimed the BJP govt in Delhi has began  “cleansing up” the “mess wrought by the Kejriwal authorities”.

Sirsa made the statements as Delhi residents had been allowed for the primary time in years to burst ‘inexperienced’ firecrackers on Diwali.

Earlier within the day, Delhi AAP president and former well being minister Saurabh Bharadwaj accused the BJP govt of getting an “association” with the “firecracker foyer”.

Earlier there was a doubt that BJP’s Delhi Govt had some preparations with multi crore “Hearth Cracker Foyer”, however now it’s nearly sure.

Delhi Govt’s District Magistrates, their groups and Delhi Police did NOT cease the unlawful gross sales of regular crackers although SC permission was…

— Saurabh Bharadwaj (@Saurabh_MLAgk) October 21, 2025

“Delhi govt’s district magistrates, their groups and Delhi Police did NOT cease the unlawful gross sales of regular crackers although SC permission was for  ‘inexperienced crackers’ solely,” Bharadwaj mentioned in a publish on X.

Specialists have beforehand mentioned that permitting larges-cale bursting of ‘inexperienced’ firecrackers, which trigger comparatively decrease air pollution than typical ones, would nonetheless add to air pollution within the metropolis.

Sirsa referred to common air high quality index (AQI) and mentioned the readings confirmed how ‘inexperienced’ firecrackers didn’t worsen “general air high quality”.  

He mentioned common AQI elevated by a “mere 10 factors”, exhibiting that Diwali was not the primary issue for air pollution. In 2021, when firecrackers had been banned in Delhi, he mentioned, AQI went up 80 factors publish Diwali.

“This exhibits the incompetence of the Kejriwal authorities… All these years that Kejriwal banned firecrackers, air pollution remained the identical, or elevated after Diwali. However we confirmed that celebrating Diwali was by no means the difficulty. This was simply Kejriwal and AAP’s ploy towards Hindu festivals,” the minister mentioned.

Knowledge by the Central Air pollution Management Board (CPCB) confirmed that Delhi’s 24-hour AQI was ‘very poor’, or 351, on Tuesday, barely increased than 345 on Monday. A better take a look at hourly AQI information exhibits that air high quality in a number of pockets of the town plummeted to ‘extreme’ on Diwali evening and the hours after.

Yearly, air air pollution surges in Delhi-NCR with the onset of winter. Chilly climate and calm winds, coupled with excessive emissions from autos, stubble burning and different sources, permit pollution to linger within the air, enveloping the area below poisonous haze.

Air pollution usually worsens after Diwali, however this yr, the pageant was celebrated earlier than winter units in and stubble burning hasn’t picked up tempo throughout states.  

On Bharadwaj’s allegation about lacking AQI information, Sirsa mentioned AAP’s accusations had been “false” and BJP had “nothing to cover”.

ThePrint verified that PM2.5 ranges at monitoring stations like Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Rohini, Okhla, Anand Vihar and RK Puram had been unavailable for a number of hours Monday evening onwards.

Sweeping, monitoring building websites and use of smog weapons had been among the many measures undertaken by the federal government to mitigate air pollution, the minister mentioned. 

(Edited by Prerna Madan)

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Additionally Learn: Air pollution doesn’t look like an emergency for Indian govt, writes world media amid Diwali smog

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