- 9 minutes ago
A debate on Delhi's worsening air quality index unfolded between political spokespersons and an environmentalist following a sudden spike in air pollution past the 350 mark. Environmental activist Bhavreen Kandhari stressed that official responses remain reactive rather than preventive, stating, 'We are managing pollution rather than, like I said, preventing it,' while warning that tender-driven measures create an economy around managing crises instead of eliminating emission sources. Bharatiya Janata Party national spokesperson Sanju Verma defended anti-pollution curbs, citing restrictions on non-BS6 vehicles, work-from-home measures, and severe AQI levels across Punjab cities to hold the Punjab administration accountable. In response, Aam Aadmi Party national spokesperson Anmol Pawar argued that farm fires in Punjab have seen steep statistical reductions, accusing authorities in Delhi of relying on data manipulation instead of on-ground mitigation. The panellists examined systemic failures across industries, dust, stubble burning, and urban governance.
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00:00All right, so for the political sparring, we have Anmol Pawar, National Spokesperson,
00:04Ahmad Mipati, Sanju Verma, National Spokesperson, BJP, but we're going to try and get an environmental
00:10perspective, and for that, we're joined by Bhavreen Kandahari, and I'd like to begin
00:14with Ms. Kandahari first.
00:17Ms. Kandahari, you know, somebody thought in the last one week that there was this silver
00:21bullet that had solved all of Delhi's issues.
00:24We had clear air because it was raining every other day, and then suddenly, boom, we have
00:28350 and over AQI.
00:33Yes, Priti, of course, you know, we wish that, you know, we would have those numbers, but
00:40we knew that this is the rain, and it's going to be temporary because it just settled down
00:45the PM2.5 and other particles, but now we were coming into a phase when the winds get stagnant
00:52and the pollution, you know, remains, all the PM2.5, et cetera, all the other particles
00:57remain near.
00:58So, this is what, whenever there's a release, there's a winter action plan, you know, conversations
01:04when the government does, they are preparing for this particular, you know, time of the
01:08year.
01:09And clearly, you know, of course, we know that you cannot wait for a pollution crisis, you
01:15know, to act on if needed, you know, sustained year-round action, you know, to curb emissions,
01:20whether, you know, vehicles.
01:22I mean, that debate is really unnecessary because every emission is important, whether it's
01:27industries, construction dust, you know, waste that's being burned, not only in Delhi,
01:32throughout the NCR because air has no boundaries, power, thermal power plants, you know, other
01:37sources.
01:37So, of course, conversations, I must say, were happening throughout the year.
01:43There were, you know, notifications, there were various kind of meetings and not only
01:49meetings, there were, you know, a good amount of, you know, thoughtful work being done.
01:56But that remained in, more or less, in conversations and drafts.
02:01Because on the ground, you know, whatever emissions and complaints that were being done
02:07repeatedly continued.
02:09So, we had the local emissions that stayed.
02:12And now the time comes when the external emissions, you know, whether it is double or
02:17now...
02:18But before I get to the politics of it all, Ms. Kandari, there's already GRAB2 in place.
02:23There are curbs that are in place already.
02:26There is a fair amount of, you know, the commuters are feeling...
02:30Those are reactive measures.
02:31Okay, you're saying this is not reactive.
02:33Those are reactive measures.
02:34Yeah.
02:34Preventive is what is important.
02:36Reactive is not going to clean up the air.
02:38That is managing pollution.
02:39To some point, I mean, maybe I'll take this point later, let the other guests come.
02:44Yeah, allow me to bring in the others.
02:46Sanju Verma, possibly this was a, you know, this was a question meant for the Delhi BJP unit,
02:51but you are the national spokesperson, so I am going to ask you this.
02:54The fact is, this time around, we were told, or rather, we were told that be convinced
03:01that Delhi is going to breathe cleaner, better air.
03:04That hasn't quite happened.
03:06Once again, the bickering has started where the Delhi BJP is turning around and saying
03:10it's Punjab's fault.
03:13You know, Preeti, let me make one, you know, important fact, which your viewers need to
03:20listen to.
03:21October 2026, the average monthly AQI, you know, in that particular month has been 166.
03:31It is the lowest in the last eight years.
03:33And between January 2026 and October 2026, at least 220 days in this period, the average
03:40monthly AQI has been good to moderate.
03:43I'm not saying we don't need to do more, we need to do more.
03:45But the work on the ground is reflecting in the fact that the AQI level, monthly average
03:50at 166 in October is unbelievable.
03:53Does it need to go down further?
03:55Oh, yes.
03:55But is this good enough compared to what the KG1 dispensation has achieved?
04:00Remember, Bhavreen Kandhari, Bhavreen Kandhari said very clearly that what happened in October
04:05was very different in terms of the kind of weather we've seen, the kind of climatic conditions
04:11we've seen, we've seen rain, we've seen wind, which Delhi hasn't quite seen in October.
04:16So you got lucky in October.
04:18To be very honest.
04:20That's the convenient argument to make, that, you know, the BJP led Delhi government got lucky
04:25in October, but I need to make a couple of points there.
04:28The fact that Rekha Gupta decided to ban non-BS6 compliant vehicles from outside Delhi
04:34to enter, you know, Delhi, I think that was a good decision.
04:39It's bearing fruit.
04:40No POC, no fuel policy is bearing fruit.
04:4350% work from home and reduced office attendance, you know, at least in government offices where
04:49physical presence is not required, I think a good policy measure.
04:53Doubling the parking charges, some might feel, oh, this is regressive, but I think this works,
04:58especially when there are people who use fuel-guzzling sedans for no rhyme or reason.
05:03Construction and demolition restrictions have been imposed.
05:06I think that's a good policy measure.
05:07AI-based monitoring of construction sites is a good policy measure.
05:12Intensified dust control on roads through monitored GPS, I think that's a good measure.
05:18Expansion of electric mobility-related vehicles and encouraging public transport, I think that's
05:24a good measure.
05:24But I will end by just saying one thing.
05:26For the Aangapmi Party to sit and give lectures on pollution control to the BJP, whereas I have
05:33got this latest data, 72-hour month, 72-hour average.
05:39In Tarantaran, it is the AQI 1319, the highest it's ever been in the last six years.
05:47Talwandi Sabo, it's 1036, again the highest in four and a half years.
05:52Bhatinda, 1124, the highest in the last two years.
05:56Sangroor, 1007, the highest in three years.
05:59Barnala, 1295, the highest in the last one and a half years.
06:03Allow me to bring in.
06:05So I want to ask Hina Gupta, who's the head of Punjab Pollution Control Board.
06:08I don't know whether she's still a spokesperson.
06:11Madam, if you got a promotion and became the head of Punjab Pollution Control Board, what have you done?
06:16All right, allow me to bring in Anmol Pawar.
06:18Anmol Pawar, allow me to bring him in because the Punjab government and the Punjab unit of
06:23the Aam Admi Party, Anmol Pawar, is very clear where they say we have reduced Parali burning
06:28and yet the BJP cannot control the pollution in the national capital yet.
06:35And it is a fact, Mr. Pawar, if you actually look at some of the cities in Punjab, they have
06:39a higher AQI index than even Delhi.
06:44Good evening, PTG.
06:46Treeti Ji, farmer bashing has become a fashion.
06:48The constant hue and cry over stubble burning is simply not backed by the facts.
06:53I'll give you some data.
06:54Stubble burning incidents in Punjab has reduced by more than 93 percent.
06:58And this is Minister of Education's reply in the Parliament House in Rajya Sabha in 2025,
07:05Kirti Vardhan Singh.
07:07Secondly, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, they saw the highest spike in stubble
07:12burning.
07:13In fact, they are the new hotspots in North India.
07:15Point number three, incidents of stubble burning reduced by more than 80,000 to less than 5,000.
07:21Your own India Today report yesterday showed this.
07:24It proved this.
07:25And very important point.
07:27Central government filed an epidemic before the Honorable Supreme Court and a reply was given
07:32in the Parliament House by the Minister of Environment, which says that dominant sources
07:37of pollution in Delhi are stubble burning contributes only 4%, dust 25%, transport 24%, industry 27%
07:46and residential 5%.
07:4793% factors are within Delhi.
07:52And the reason behind Delhi's rising pollution is BJP's incompetence because they neither have
07:58the intent nor the ability nor the political will to tackle this crisis.
08:03Instead of cleaning Delhi's air, they are busy manipulating AQI data.
08:07Yesterday, our Delhi President, Saurabh Bhardwajdi, exposed Bhartiya Janta Party in a shocking
08:14attempt by the BJP government to manipulate AQI readings at ITI Jangirpur.
08:20They were sprinkling water near the AQI monitoring stations just to lower the AQI level.
08:26Second point.
08:27Just a minute.
08:28And that's not all.
08:29To bring down Delhi's average AQI, on paper, 20 new monitoring stations have reportedly being
08:35set up in green, lush areas.
08:37Okay, no, this was the argument the last time around of the Aam Admi Party.
08:41I'll come back to you.
08:42I'll give you, sir, allow me, I'll come back to you.
08:45I just want to bring in Ms. Kandari, you know, once again and we'll take final comments.
08:49Ms. Kandari, what you talk about, these are reactive measures and understandably they are
08:52reactive measures.
08:54What is it that still the governments, successive governments are getting completely wrong in
08:59the national capital?
09:02In-game, I mean, as much as, you know, I do agree that the stubble burning has improved.
09:10I mean, you know, it's been lesser in terms, but there's a lot of work that's happening.
09:15But this narrative of actually the stubble being the prime reason for air pollution has been
09:23brought in by the previous government.
09:25That till today, I stand with, you know, random people and they say, oh, it's not stubble
09:30burning.
09:31No, it's only 14 percent, the rest of the local emissions.
09:34So, you know, we are citizens.
09:36It doesn't matter which party will come and which will go.
09:38We are concerned about, you know, our lungs, our children.
09:42And after so many years of this, you know, this nonsensical debates, you know, we actually
09:48I'm beginning to think that are we building an economy around something that, you know,
09:55it's not about, you know, breathing in polluted air.
09:57It's about, you know, it's something more.
10:00It's like, you know, the deeper systemic failures, you know, be it corruption, whether
10:06it's vested interest, you know, these tender driven solutions that even haven't spared
10:11the last forest, our ridge, you know, where you want to just construct now.
10:15And economy, which is built around, you know, managing the crisis, we are managing pollution
10:19rather than, like I said, preventing it.
10:22So because managing means money, you know, follow the money.
10:25Managing means smog guns.
10:26Managing means all these sprinklers, water, you know, various technology, then firework
10:32industry, pharmaceutical companies, booming air purifier market.
10:37You know, it's just become a huge question mark, you know, for like, because it doesn't
10:42take decades, you know, for a government as efficient and now the government being the
10:48same party.
10:49Well, China could do it in a decade.
10:50China did it in 10 years.
10:51Absolutely.
10:52So it's something that we could have been able to wrap our heads around by now.
10:55Fair point.
10:56I just want to bring.
10:57Why are we not, you know, eliminating the sources of pollution?
11:00Final points.
11:01Why are we not working on the sources of pollution?
11:02I mean, we're working on managing the pollution because there is a huge amount of money there.
11:07Sanju, one of my final comments because it's, you know, Majinder Singh Sirsa from Delhi
11:10continues to blame the farm fires.
11:13Now, statistically, if you look at it, they have come down.
11:16Yeah.
11:18You know, let's get one thing very clear.
11:19When Kejriwal was the chief minister in Delhi, his biggest lame duck excuse was,
11:24Aray, hum kya kare?
11:25Delhi mein pollution is is liye ho rahi hai, because Punjab mein parali jal rahi hai.
11:29But today, since Kejriwal has been ousted out of Delhi, you know, jo parali and stubble
11:33burning Punjab mein ho rahi hai, he's become completely immune to it.
11:37That is called hypocrisy with a double H.
11:39But let me just tell you one thing.
11:40It's very, very unfair to completely concentrate the debate around air pollution to simply
11:47smog or dust pollution or stubble burning.
11:50It is now identified that the biggest reason for pollution in Punjab, which is affecting
11:57other states with which it shares a border, is the amount of effluent and wastage that
12:04is being thrown into the Buddha Nalla in Ludhiana.
12:07Now, I was shocked to know that there are 57,000 units in the Jalandhar-Ludhiana-Thagwara belt.
12:1557,000 units.
12:16And their NOC has expired as of September 30th and despite not having an NOC, they continue
12:23to operate in what is called an MLU, Mixed Land Usage Area.
12:29And time and again, the central government has said that industrial units which are operating
12:34in MLU areas cannot continue to do so without having a NOC in place.
12:40And Kejniwal said,
12:47Alright, final comments.
12:50Mr. Bhavad, please come in.
12:51Final comments.
12:52Preeti Ji, instead of reducing pollution on the ground, the BJP government is trying to
12:58reduce pollution on papers.
12:59A chief minister who doesn't know the difference between AQI and AIQ, an environment minister
13:05who lies on the floor of the parliament house.
13:08What else can you expect from them?
13:10They are the ones who are just blaming farmers of Punjab without any facts in their favor.
13:15The point is that their lies have been exposed time and again.
13:19Last year also, they were found manipulating AQI data.
13:23This year also, our leader Saurabhadwajji has written to CAQM chairperson and CPCB chairperson
13:28to take action against all those officials, including the chief minister and environment minister
13:33who are misleading the citizens, who are playing with the lives of the citizens.
13:37The reality is that India is the third most polluted country in the world.
13:41The reality is that the top 42 most polluted cities of the world are in India.
13:46Alright, we are going to leave it at that.
13:47That's the reality.
13:47The reality, sir, also is that in this bitter politics on pollution, the collateral is the common citizen.
13:54That's also the reality.
13:55Let's end with that.
13:56I appreciate all three of you for joining us.
13:58Thank you there.
13:59We are going to leave it at that.