New Delhi:
Ahead of the 2020 Delhi assembly elections, a residents’ body on Monday launched a ‘green manifesto’, urging political parties to adopt and implement it as a road map to address environmental pollution in the Capital for the next five years.
The 10-pointer manifesto, prepared by an expert committee of the United Residents’ Joint Action (URJA) –an umbrella body of more than 2500 RWAs in the city—is titled ‘Citizens Green Manifesto for a Smart and Sustainable Delhi’.
The issues range from air pollution, traffic management, transport and mobility, urban design, revival of water bodies to solid waste management.
In one of the key demands, the manifesto seeks 65% reduction in air pollution levels by 2025 in order to meet the national standards for public health. Other demands include a road map for zero waste at landfills by 2025; developing of an Ecology Master Plan for Delhi with targets for 2025 and 2041, promoting electric mobility with 50% EVs in new vehicle registrations by 2025 and providing public transport which can cater to at least 80% of Delhi’s population, among others.
“We have set targets for achieving the milestones and we urge political leaders to adopt these road maps for making Delhi a better city to live in. The manifesto is in public domain. A lot of these targets and vision are already part of our current policy programmes but the challenge lies in real-time implementation of these targets,” said Atul Goyal, president, URJA.
{{/usCountry}}“We have set targets for achieving the milestones and we urge political leaders to adopt these road maps for making Delhi a better city to live in. The manifesto is in public domain. A lot of these targets and vision are already part of our current policy programmes but the challenge lies in real-time implementation of these targets,” said Atul Goyal, president, URJA.
{{/usCountry}}The citizens’ group also wants government websites to provide the latest information on all policy implementation and monitoring, for greater transparency.
The Global Liveability Index 2019 conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, ranked New Delhi 118 out of 140 major cities of the world.