‘Relief to breathe Kerala’s clean air’: Shashi Tharoor takes swipe at Delhi govt over pollution crisis

NEW DELHI: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday criticised the governments at the Centre and in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab over the worsening air pollution crisis, saying they must work together and show the political will to take concrete action.Speaking in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, Tharoor said the current political situation offered an opportunity for governments to coordinate, as the Centre and the three states were not governed by the Congress.“The government must find the political will to act. I wrote an article some months ago saying that this is an unusual situation now, where the Central Government, the Delhi Government, the Haryana Government and the Punjab Government can all be on the same page. None of them is Congress. You don't have to blame us. They can sit together and make a plan,” he said.Tharoor questioned why the Centre and the governments of Delhi and Haryana had not taken concrete steps to tackle the crisis, alleging that the situation was being allowed to spiral out of control.“At least Haryana, Delhi and the Centre, why can't they do something concrete about air pollution? They are allowing this to get completely out of control,” he said.Taking a dig at the pollution levels in the national capital, the Congress leader said it was a relief to breathe Kerala's clean air instead of being in Delhi's polluted atmosphere.“It is a relief to breathe the clean air of Kerala rather than be in the absolutely polluted atmosphere of Delhi,” Tharoor added.GRAP 3 imposed Delhi's air pollution control measures were tightened with the implementation of Stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) on Friday, as the city's air quality deteriorated towards the severe category.The average Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 382 at 4pm on Friday, up from 369 a day earlier. The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) invoked GRAP Stage III as a precautionary measure, just four days after Stage II restrictions came into force.Under GRAP Stage III, major dust-generating construction and demolition activities are prohibited, while stone crushers and mining operations are required to shut down. Restrictions also apply to BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel cars in Delhi and five high-vehicle-density districts of the National Capital Region.The measures also include the possibility of hybrid classes for students up to Class V and a 50% work-from-home arrangement in offices.Get the latest India News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.