Kejriwal slams Centre, states over stubble burning

New Delhi, Oct 12 (IANS) With winter approaching, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday expressed his concern over stubble burning in neighbouring states and slammed the centre and state governments for their inaction despite incessant requests to solve the issue.

"We have been pursuing Central (government), Haryana and Punjab governments, yet no concrete action has been taken. Farmers are again helpless. The entire region including Delhi will again become gas chamber. People will again face difficulty in breathing. This is criminal," Kejriwal tweeted.

His remarks came after Environment Minister Imran Hussain posted some photographs of rampant stubble burning on Delhi-Chandigarh National Highway with an appeal to the Centre and state governments of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to "urgently find long-term solutions" to crop burning.

"It is extremely painful that despite repeated requests from the Delhi government, the Centre has still not convened meetings with the chief ministers and environment ministers of neighbouring states to find a permanent solution to this problem," Hussain wrote alongside the photographs on Twitter.