CM to unveil winter action plan on Friday: Delhi environment minister

The concentration of ultrafine PM2.5 particles, which can reach deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, shoots up to levels unfit for breathing

Environment minister Gopal Rai on Tuesday said chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday will unveil the Delhi government’s winter action plan to curb air pollution.

Every year, Delhi faces a public health crisis in the run-up to and during most of the winter season. (PTI)

“We are preparing a winter action plan to curb winter pollution in Delhi on the basis of reports and suggestions given by 28 different departments and agencies. A joint meeting regarding framing of the plan was held on September 14 with these departments, and different responsibilities were assigned to all of them. Instructions have also been issued to all construction agencies to strictly follow the norms related to dust pollution,” Rai said.

“Last year, we worked with all the agencies involved in the construction business in Delhi to keep a noose on pollution. Today, I am appealing to them to follow the norms related to dust pollution. Action would be taken against all those agencies who violate the law,” he added.

The departments and agencies involved in framing the plan include the environment, development, transport, and revenue departments, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, Delhi Development Authority, Delhi Police, Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, and the Public Works Department, among others.

Every year, Delhi faces a public health crisis in the run-up to and during most of the winter season. The crisis begins with the emanation of farm fires in Punjab and Haryana, where farmers set fire to hundreds of square kilometres of paddy fields after harvesting them to clear them of residue.

This often pushes the Capital’s air into the severe category, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) climbing past 400 and even 450, to reach pollution levels of “severe” and “severe-plus”, especially since this period also coincides with the festival of Diwali.

The concentration of ultrafine PM2.5 particles, which can reach deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, shoots up to levels unfit for breathing. To make matters worse, the crisis plays out during pre-winter weather conditions when winds die down, taking away most of the scope for the pollutants to be blown away.