Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday said he had asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convene a meeting of chief ministers of the states affected by pollution, NDTV reported.
Singh reiterated that holding a meeting with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at the moment would not help the blanket of smog that has enveloped North India since Tuesday. He had maintained that the situation needed the Centre’s intervention.
Kejriwal had said on Wednesday that he would like to meet Singh and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to resolve the pollution crisis in Delhi, caused by stubble burning in the neighbouring states.
On Thursday, Singh called Kejriwal a “peculiar person” who expresses his views without an understanding of the problem. “If I have two crore tonnes of paddy straw, and I ask the farmer to store this, farms will be covered with the straw,” the Punjab chief minister said. “Kejriwal doesn’t understand this.”
Singh suggested that the Centre “rise to the occasion” and “come to the rescue” of the farmers with financial aid for stubble management.
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