Delhi BJP claims AAP govt left fund for pollution control unused
NEW DELHI: The BJP accused the AAP government in Delhi on Saturday of failing to utilise the special fund received from the central government for pollution control, and demanded a white paper on it.
This failure is a testament to the “criminal negligence” of the Kejriwal government, leaders of the opposition party in Delhi said at a press conference.
Responding to the allegations, AAP said the Delhi government has been consistently working on reducing pollution and even the BJP’s central government acknowledged in
Parliament that a 31 per cent reduction in pollution has been noted in the national capital.
“However, the central government has stopped Delhi’s share from the Centre’s pool of taxes. When we demanded the rightful share for Delhiites, who pay Rs 2.07 lakh crores in taxes, the BJP responded with unfounded allegations, once again demonstrating its stepmotherly treatment,” it said in a statement.
At the Delhi BJP press conference, party leaders demanded that the city government should present a white paper detailing the work done on pollution control in the past nine-and-a-half years.
“This is not just an allegation by the BJP, but a report by the WHO that Delhi is one of the most polluted cities in the world,” South
Delhi MP Ramveer Singh Bidhuri said.
New Delhi MP Bansuri Swaraj said the central government allocated Rs 742.69 crore to the Delhi government under the National Clean Air Programme but the Kejriwal government has only spent 29.5 per cent of it.
She also sought a reply from the government on why 70 per cent of the fund lay unused.
The Kejriwal-led party hit back, asking why the central government was withholding Delhi’s share of funds.
“We are continuously working for the betterment of Delhiites, while Delhi’s L-G has caused significant harm by cutting down trees in the city’s eco-sensitive zones. The BJP remains silent on this grave environmental issue,” it said.
“To seize control of the MCD through backdoor means after losing the elections, the BJP’s central government appointed aldermen in an unconstitutional manner. As a result, the standing committee could not be constituted, preventing any projects worth more than Rs 5 crores from being executed,” it said.