The photo shared by Shashi Tharoor, shows an open cigarette pack with the Qutub Minar inside it
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor today tweeted a photo which serves as sharp commentary over the rapid deterioration of air quality in the national capital. In the photo, is an open cigarette pack with the Qutub Minar inside it, with a sarcastic rhyme in Hindi saying smokers should get a taste of the air in Delhi-NCR. A rider to the photo, mocking statutory warnings in cigarette boxes, says "Delhi is Injurious To Health!!"
The rhyme, roughly translated from Hindi, says:
"Till when will you spend your life with cigarettes, beedis and cigars,
Spend a few days in Delhi-NCR."
Pollution levels in Delhi and surrounding areas of the National Capital Region had dropped this morning after a slight increase in wind speeds. The pollution board had on Friday declared a public health emergency across the National Capital Region after pollution levels had entered into the "emergency" category for the first time this year since January.
The Air Quality Index or AQI reached 407 at 10 am, as per data released by the Central Pollution Control Board or CPCB.
Stubble burning from the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana is said to be one of the reasons why air quality degrade every winter in Delhi.
The issue of stubble burning acquired a political colour when Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal distributed masks to schoolchildren and asked them to write letters to his Punjab and Haryana counterparts over pollution caused by stubble burning.
Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar attacked Mr Kejriwal for "politicising" the issue and said he had tried to paint his counterparts as "villains".
Mr Javadekar said air pollution is a problem which has aggravated in the past 15 years and is now being remedied by the Narendra Modi government.
Mr Kejriwal had announced a slew of measures to tackle pollution, including the implementation of the odd-even scheme, shutting down of construction activity and banning bursting of firecrackers during the winter, another activity which has of late been attacked by critics as a reason for the further degradation of air quality in Delhi.