Last year, L-G slammed Delhi govt over pollution. This time, he is in a balloon

While Delhi’s residents wheeze their way through a toxic gas chamber and the Yamuna foams up like a hazardous bubble bath, Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has found the perfect moment to launch hot air balloon rides on the banks of the polluted river.

Saxena took to X on Tuesday to proudly inaugurate a new “recreational/adventure activity” at the DDA’s Baansera park, calling it a step toward making Delhi “vibrant” with “world-class infrastructure”. 

Suffice to say, many weren’t happy with this announcement.

Saxena’s tone-deaf timing is not the only problem. There’s the apparent double standard too.

Two years, two parameters

Throughout November this year, as the city struggled to breathe, he didn’t write a single post on X about air pollution. 

Meanwhile last year, in a letter to Kejriwal’s successor, Atishi, Saxena said that although the Delhi government may have little control over factors like stubble burning in other states, but the different factors responsible for air pollution in the city were within its power, especially road dust, which he cited as the most significant contributor to air pollution. 

In his letter on October 23, 2024, Saxena said, “I am conscious of the fact that smoke coming from neighbouring states, especially those to our north, is worsening the situation in Delhi, and if need be, I will again request them to help us. However, it will only be appropriate that we first set our house in order before blaming others or asking for their help.”

On October 23 this year, he didn’t say a word even though AQI was in the “very poor” category.

Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta, on November 17 this year, went on the offensive against the Punjab government over stubble burning at the Northern Zonal Council meeting, chaired by Home Minister Amit Shah. Saxena had no such ‘constructive advice’ to the CM this year. 

But on November 24 this year, the Delhi government issued a directive asking government and private-sector offices to work with 50 percent on-site staff following L-G Saxena's recent approval of "staggered office timings for GNCTD and Municipal Corporation of Delhi establishments." He had approved similar measures last year too. But this year’s approach is in stark contrast to the points of friction with the Delhi government on the issue of pollution last year. 

In a letter to former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on March 20, 2024, Saxena noted how Delhi’s “dubious distinction” as the “most polluted city in the world” was a black mark against his administration’s “report card” and how the “much talked about Delhi model is shrouded in a haze of smog.” Similarly, he held Kejriwal “personally responsible” for the high levels of pollution in the Yamuna in December 2024. In a rather bizarre claim, he even told outgoing chief minister Atishi that they lost the Delhi assembly elections due to “the curse of Yamuna Maa” in February 2025. 

Since BJP’s Rekha Gupta took office as the Chief Minister on February 20, 2025, little has changed about Delhi’s air or the Yamuna. But despite the government’s own records showing alarming pollution levels in the Yamuna and its clunky PR efforts before Chhath Puja, the L-G hasn’t said a word about the Delhi government’s lack of real action.

In fact, a cursory look through his posts on X since the BJP government took office in Delhi on February 20, 2025, shows announcements like the launch of a “fully automated anti-smog misting system” in Dwarka and general praise for the government's work in “rejuvenating” the Yamuna.

Writing a long post in Hindi on X on November 14, 2024, Saxena accused Kejriwal of stonewalling his efforts to clean the Yamuna. According to Saxena, the constitution of a high-level committee by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), chaired by him to clean and revive the Yamuna, had started delivering “encouraging results”. But Saxena claimed that Kejriwal stopped them in their tracks by filing a writ petition in the Supreme Court and getting a stay order on the NGT’s order of the formation of this high-level committee.    

“Although Kejriwal succeeded in stopping my efforts to clean the Yamuna, he did not do even a single work in the past 16 months for cleaning the river…," Saxena claimed. Sharing newspaper clippings of the Yamuna’s pollution, he added that its terrible condition was self-evident. And he went on to claim that “it’s clear how polluted the thinking and intentions of the persons who obstructed my efforts to make the Yamuna pollution-free were”.

In the following month, he wrote a scathing letter to Kejriwal: “The Yamuna has reached its highest level of pollution this year. I will personally hold you responsible for this, since you filed a petition in the Supreme Court and stopped the cleaning work being done in the Yamuna. I have repeatedly requested you to personally go out in the city and assess the situation.”

In October last year, his office had issued no press releases on the Yamuna. But on X, he posted images of the river covered in foam, asking, "Who is responsible for such a plight? Who made claims of cleaning the Yamuna and announced plans to take dips in it?”, in an apparent shot against the AAP government. 

The following day, he posted images of the Yamuna once again. “Instead of accusations, blame games, and excuses on media/social media, it would be better to provide relief to the people of Delhi, and especially to the Chhath devotees and observers, from this worsening situation. I expect concrete steps for resolution.”  

There were some positive announcements on the Yamuna. In November last year, he noted the transformation of degraded wastelands along the Yamuna into green spaces last year – announcing the “Yamuna Vatika” in Rajghat and a “bamboo grove” in Baansera. In November this year, he announced the balloon rides.  

While the Yamuna and the city’s air remain unchanged, it appears the L-G’s priorities have changed. 

Newslaundry sent a list of questions to the L-G’s office. This report will be updated if a response is received.

If the government can hike print ad rates by 26 percent, we can drop our subscription prices by 26 percent. Grab the offer and power journalism that doesn’t depend on advertisers.