Opposition Congress and INLD today termed the meeting between Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar here as a "futile exercise".
Former Haryana chief minister and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the meeting to discuss ways to control air pollution in Delhi, amounted to "political drama" and "wastage of time".
Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) state president Ashok Arora also criticised Kejriwal for blaming the farmers of Haryana for smog and rise in pollution levels in Delhi.
Notably, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had ruled out a meeting with the AAP supremo, asking him not to "politicise" the serious matter.
Hooda claimed that a number of factors, including construction activities, industrial pollutants, vehicular pollution and other reasons were behind the smog situation in the national capital, and that stubble burning contribution was only a "small part" to the existing pollution levels in the city.
Criticising the Khattar government for imposing fines on farmers, Hooda said the state government had failed to provide an alternative for disposing of crop residue and therefore, it should bear the burden of the farmers.
"When the state government has failed to find adequate solution for stubble management, why are farmers being fined? The farmers have no alternative for it. The government needs to find out ways for useful management of paddy straw as it can be used for plywood industry, electricity generation and other means," he said.
Kejriwal and Khattar earlier today resolved to put in "sustained efforts" to check pollution and discussed measures to ensure smog did not envelop the national capital in the winter of 2018.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)