At a press conference on Tuesday, Union Minister of State Meenakshi Lekhi lashed out at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, claiming that “The people of Delhi gave the Kejriwal government Rs 1286.93 crore in environmental taxes, but where that money is? The result is that today small children are coughing, the elderly are suffering from lung diseases, and there are hospitals in Delhi where only hoardings of glowing faces of Kejriwal can be found, but patients wander here and there due to a lack of basic testing facilities.” Shri Harish Khurana, the state spokesperson, was also present at the press conference.
Lekhi said that Kejriwal claims to have installed 10 smog towers, and Rs. 80 lakh per month is shown in the name of repair, but despite that, the smog tower is not working. “These days, Kejriwal is busy with his political tours to other states on the tax money of Delhiites, but the needs of Delhiites are not met. He said that out of Rs 1286.93 crore collected as environment cess, only Rs 272.51 crore has been spent in 2015-16, of which Rs 265 crore has been spent on the Delhi-Meerut Rapid Red Transport System.”
The Minister said that Kejriwal repeatedly blames the Lt Governor of Delhi, saying that if the vehicle on-off system had not been stopped, the environment of Delhi would have improved, but the reality is that the Delhi Pollution Department has an authentic anti-pollution record. She said that when AAP was not in Punjab, he used to say that Punjab’s stubble burning was the cause of Delhi’s toxic air, but when Punjab came into his hands, he started blaming the Lt. Governor. Cases have increased from 34 percent earlier.
According to Meenakshi Lekhi, the Central Government issued guidelines and established Eastern-Western Peripherals, but the Kejriwal Administration took no concrete steps. She said that the reality is that Delhi’s part time Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has not done any work for the prevention of pollution.
