New Delhi, Nov 15 (IANS): Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal performed Diwali puja at Akshardham Temple in Delhi on Saturday. Along with the Chief Minister, his family and cabinet colleagues were also present on the occasion.
Kejriwal while giving a message to the people of Delhi on the occasion of Diwali said, "May Goddess Lakshmi bless all of you, god bless you. Happy Diwali to all the countrymen, may Goddess Lakshmi's blessings be with you all the time."
The Chief Minister said, "This time on Diwali, we all Delhiites are doing Lakshmi Pujan together. During this time, everyone should come to television in their homes and worship Lakshmi with us in one voice. If two crore people of Delhi together perform Lakshmi Puja in one voice, then every family in Delhi will get her blessings."
He said, pollution is increasing in Delhi, if we burn firecrackers, then we are playing with our lives, our family and the lives of the people of entire Delhi.
In Delhi, there is a great havoc of both corona and pollution at this time. The people of Delhi and the Government of Delhi are trying together to deal with this situation. The situation in Corona is getting worse due to pollution. Every year there is pollution on these days, because the smoke of stubble burning comes towards Delhi.
Kejriwal said, the sad part is that due to stubble burning, this pollution has been happening for the last several years, but those governments did not take any concrete steps for their farmers. I spoke to the farmers of those states and the farmers said that we do not want to burn the straw, burning the straw spoils our lands as well. Our soil becomes less fertile due to this, but what solution do we have, our governments did nothing for us.
He said that the Delhi government has taken very good steps to solve the problem. The people of Delhi and the Government of Delhi together with the PUSA Institute have given a solution to the farmers that there is no need to burn the straw. The Institute has developed a chemical that transforms the straw into compost within about 20 days.
The Chief Minister said that the last time we had swear not to burn firecrackers during Deepawali. This time too, we will all celebrate Deepawali, but will not burn firecrackers under any circumstances.