Fawad Chaudhry Pakistan Narendra Modi Fawad Chaudhry, Minister for Science and Technology

Key Highlights Fawad Chaudhry’s statement comes after Lahore registered sharp increase in smoke and environmental pollution

Chaudhry blamed PM Narendra Modi for the situation across the border

Chaudhry was trolled mercilessly by netizens on the micro-blogging site

Islamabad: Pakistani minister Fawad Chaudhry has blamed Indian PM Narendra Modi for pollution in Lahore. Saying that the Modi government had failed in every matter, Chaudhry blamed him for the situation across the border, calling it a major cause of pollution in Lahore.

Chaudhry’s statement comes after Lahore registered rising smoke and environmental pollution.

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Taking to his Twitter handle Chaudhry said: “Yesterday, the Environment Ministry informed the cabinet that the major cause of pollution in Lahore is the situation across the border. The pollution ratio in Lahore city is half of the ratio at Wagah Border. The fire that is set up after harvesting crops from Delhi to Amritsar is a major environmental problem. The Modi government has failed in every respect.”

The motormouth minister had earlier sparked outrage for his insensitive statement against PM Modi on his birthday on September 17, when he said, “Today reminds us the importance of contraceptives.”

After his tweet, Chaudhry was trolled mercilessly by netizens on the micro-blogging site.

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The minister had earlier claimed that the Hubble Space Telescope was sent into space by the country’s aeronautics and aerospace research agency Suparco, instead of NASA.

According to a report by Times of Islamabad, Pakistani experts blamed the coal-based industry in India situated close to the border for a sharp increase in pollution, saying that the smoke was carried by the wind into Pakistan.

As per the rankings released by the World Air Quality Index (AQI), Lahore has been ranked as the second-most polluted city on October 29.

Port city of Karachi, on the other hand, ranked seventh with an average AQI of 153.

The main reason behind Lahore’s air pollution is emission from vehicles and industries apart from smoke caused by burning garbage and crop residue and dust from construction sites.

Meanwhile, farm fires in Punjab and Haryana increased drastically in the past 24 hours with the national capital’s air pollution expected to reach an all-time high this year.

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Issuing a statement, the Delhi government said that the stubble plume from northwest regions has become one of the significant factors adversely affecting Delhi’s air quality. NASA satellite imagery and stubble burning-related projections of the Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality monitor, SAFAR was also shared by the state government.

“The effective stubble fire counts in Haryana and Punjab have increased from 1,654 to 2,577 in the past 24 hours, which is a matter of extreme concern for the residents of Delhi,” news agency PTI reported.

As per the latest NASA images, a drastic increase in crop residue burning was registered in the two neighbouring states severely affecting Delhi’s air quality.