Air pollution: Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai to hold meeting today

Till Sunday, for three consecutive days, the city recorded ‘severe’ air quality.

Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai will on Tuesday chair a meeting with officials from concerned departments to deliberate on more steps required to reduce air pollution in the national capital. “We have called a meeting of all departments concerned, including environment department, Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Public Works Department (PWD) and municipal corporations, at the Delhi secretariat to discuss what more can be done to reduce Delhi's own share of pollution,” Rai said a day ago.

The minister reiterated, citing scientists, that stubble burning from the neighbouring states was the main reason behind the rise in air pollution in the city. “We had urged the Centre to call an emergency meeting of all neighbouring states to reduce the incidents of stubble burning,” he added.

On Sunday, Rai wrote to Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav to “seek his attention on the current state of affairs.' In his letter, he urged Yadav to hold an interaction, on an urgent basis, with environment ministers from Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to discuss and implement immediate solutions to this problem. He also called for a long-term action plan to resolve the issue permanently.

Till Sunday, for three straight days, Delhi recorded ‘severe’ air quality due to accumulation of emissions from a combination of factors, including bursting of firecrackers on Diwali, and stubble burning. However, on Tuesday, pollution levels lowered marginally due to strong winds, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) at 388 3pm.

(With PTI inputs)