Opposition blames AAP for delaying ban on Chinese manjha

NEW DELHI: Opposition parties blamed the AAP-led Delhi government for delaying the notification of a ban on Chinese manjha. They said had the curbs been in place, the three recent deaths could have been prevented. While BJP alleged that the Delhi government was colluding with the "manjha mafia", Congress went a step further and demanded a CBI probe into the delay in imposing the ban on Chinese manja.

Vijender Gupta, leader of the opposition in the Delhi assembly, blamed CM Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia for the lapse and said that environment secretary Chandraker Bharti was being made a scapegoat. "It is criminal neglect on the part of the CM and the deputy CM. Environment secretary is being made a scapegoat to protect the real culprits. The government is finding new excuses for not banning the sale of Chinese manjha," said Gupta.

Questioning AAP's intention, BJP said that if the Delhi government was serious about banning the manjha, then it would have called a special session of the Delhi assembly to pass a bill in this regard. "But it didn't because it has a nexus with the manjha mafia," added Gupta.

BJP pointed out that the matter was raised last year as well after one person died in a manjha-related incident. "We had demanded that it should be banned, but Kejriwal government didn't take any action," said Gupta.

Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Ajay Maken demanded a CBI inquiry into what he called a "deliberate delay" on the part of the AAP government. Maken said the delay "seems to have been done for financial considerations, to benefit importers at the cost of public safety". He said the Delhi government issued a draft notification for banning manjha on August 16, a day after independence, when the sales of the manjha were almost over and precious lives were lost in the capital on August 15.

He said the draft notification was an "eyewash" and the government further delayed the actual ban by at least two months on the pretext of inviting public opinion. Maken said that Rule 4 (5) of the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986, enables the Delhi government to issue the notification without inviting objections in special circumstances. The DPCC chief cited that the Karnataka government had banned the Chinese manjha on July 22.Earlier, Maharashtra and Rajasthan too had imposed a ban on it.