New Delhi, Nov 24 (UNI) Drawing attention towards the high handed actions against citizens protesting for the ‘right to clean air’ at India Gate in Delhi, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj on Monday said that the government is suffocating citizens who raise their voice against pollution.
The AAP leader took to social media, exposing the excesses of the Delhi Police against the protesters of Sunday’s demonstration. Bharadwaj posted a photograph on X, where a police officer was sitting on top of a protester with his hand pressed over the young man’s face and wrote, “This is the people of Delhi. They are raising their voice against pollution, and the government is climbing on top of them and choking them.”
On Sunday, several residents took to the streets for the fourth time, accusing the government of not doing enough to improve the situation, rather misleading the people by manipulating the air quality data.
Residents’ concerns regarding data fabrication were echoed by opposition leaders, who accused the government of sprinkling water in the immediate vicinity of Delhi’s air quality monitoring stations.
Pointing to the government’s denial, Priyanka Kakkar, AAP’s Chief Spokesperson, said, “People will have to take care of themselves, because according to this government, there is no pollution in Delhi at all. For them, spraying water on AQI stations is the solution.”
Highlighting the worsening pollution levels and government’s apathy, Bharadwaj added, “At around 6 am, the AQI was 458 in Vivek Vihar, 458 in Rohini, 455 in Jahangirpuri and 448 in Wazirpur. In many other areas too, pollution remained in the severe category. People in every household are falling ill due to pollution and hospitals are seeing a rise in patients, but the BJP government does not care.”
