By Dr, Gyan Pathak
Air pollution in Delhi broke 10 years of record on Diwali eve, while on Diwali it broke 5 years of record. Several measuring stations even failed to record pollution level while several others recorded air pollution at hazardous levels. BJP is ruing both the State of Delhi and the Centre and hence it is their failure. PM Narendra Modi usually escapes the pollution and go to celebrate in pollution free areas with Indian forces to build a different political narrative and image building while people of Delhi suffer. BJP has peddled a different narrative for Delhi that the pollution was due to inaction of the past 25 years under opposition rule, and the opposition is selectively targeting Hindu festival.
The twist BJP leaders are trying to give to the human tragedy of pollution in the National Capital of India reminds us about party’s old habit of blaming the past governments when they fail. They don’t talk about the present is such a situation because doing so is embarrassing for them. Secondly, they try to twist the demand for accountability by the opposition, as targeting of Hindu festival, religion, and culture by anti-Hindu or anti-Sanatan opposition. Thirdly, they try to smooth the public anger by promising them prosperity and well-being in the future, the largest promised span so far by 2047.
Even on Delhi pollution, a Delhi minister and BJP leader Kapil Mishra accused Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders of “orchestrating” farm fires in Punjab to worsen Delhi’s pollution. Earlier, AAP was ruling Delhi, and the BJP had been accusing ruling AAP for Delhi pollution. BJP came to power in Delhi by dislodging AAP in 2025 election. However, BJP is not willing to admit that it is under their double engine rule Delhi pollution broke record 10 years record.
The opposition Congress and AAP have also accused the BJP government of weak enforcement and suppressing AQI data so that their inaction on the pollution front is not exposed.
BJP MP Praveen Khandelwal accused the Opposition parties of selectively raising pollution only during Hindu festivals after not tackling the problem during 25 years when they were in power in Delhi. He alleged that the opposition is finding fault with Hindu festival.
Diwali pollution in Delhi in not a new issue. It has been continuing for years, and the matter is even in the Supreme Court of India, which have given many directions to the state governments and the Centre to tackle the problem. Even recently, Supreme Court had allowed on green crackers, linking fireworks as part of religious behaviour. The record pollution this year is the result of this.
Illegal crackers were used in fireworks and that too for an extended period of time, that Supreme Court had not allowed. Fireworks were allowed only upto 10 PM on the Diwali night. PM2.5 levels in parts of Delhi soared to 66 times the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) recommended 24-hour guideline.
TMC leader Saket Gokhale said in a post on X, “Last night, fireworks were going on until 3AM in so-called Lutyens Delhi where ministers and SC Judges live. Literally everyone we know either has a chronic cough, burning eyes, migraines and breathlessness.” He even accused Delhi police of overlooking illegal sales and use of firecrackers.
Indulging in such hazardous level of fireworks by Hindus on Diwali is simply unwise, and hence BJP leaders accusing the opposition that they are targeting Hindu festival, is grossly incorrect and unacceptable proposition.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera has even said that PM2.5 reading were unavailable at 25 of Delhi’s 39 monitoring stations between 2AM and 3AM. He posted on X, “Is the government suppressing the data? Were the monitors deliberately switched off? Or was the pollution so dangerously high that it exceeded the measuring capacity of the equipment?” He said, “Whatever the reason, the government owes the people of Delhi an explanation,” adding that “The fact that the data has gone missing doesn’t mean the pollution has disappeared too.”
“Govt is doing AQI Data Fraud,” AAP leader Bharadwaj said has said. He has posted a video on social media Xclaiming that the AQI had crossed 3,000. The cited multiple independent air quality monitoring platforms in his support and said that the government’s official figure did not reflect the actual pollution levels. In the light of many stations were not working, and data is not available for several hours for several monitoring stations, the allegations need to be investigated. Bharadwaj has warned that pollution shown at low level than actual in government data could expose the residents of Delhi to heart attacks, asthma and respiratory failure.
Congress General Secretary (Communication) Jairam Ramesh in his post on X has said that two million people died due to air pollution in India in 2023, which was nearly 22 per cent of all deaths. He accused the Modi government of denying air pollution’s impact on mortality. “Now comes a detailed FICCI-EY report. … This is yet another wake-up call for the somnolent Modi Government.” Ramesh said, “Ease of doing business is fine, but ease of breathing is even more fundamental.” (IPA Service)
