Delhi pollution: 10-day campaign against open burning of waste

Delhi on Tuesday logged an Air Quality Index (AQI) reading of 366 (very poor), according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) daily national bulletin released at 4 pm.

With Delhi’s pollution levels oscillating between ‘very poor’ and ‘severe’ zones over the last three days, state environment minister Gopal Rai on Tuesday declared a special campaign against open burning, also announcing that 611 teams from different agencies have been formed as part of the drive.

Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai on Tuesday declared a special campaign against open burning. (HT Photo)

“To stop the incidents of open burning in Delhi, the government has started a special anti-open burning campaign. A total of 611 teams have been assigned the responsibility for this, and these teams will work together day and night to reduce pollution,” Rai said.

Delhi on Tuesday logged an Air Quality Index (AQI) reading of 366 (very poor), according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) daily national bulletin released at 4 pm. This was lower than the 410 (severe) recorded on Monday, but slightly higher than the 353 (very poor) on Sunday.

Rai also appealed to RWAs to provide electric heaters to guards in their colonies who are posted on night duty, noting that this is also a provision under the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap). This, he said, will ensure that instances of open burning reduce considerably.

The 611 teams will be formed from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), the municipal corporation, along with Delhi’s revenue and irrigation and flood control (I&FC) departments, and the drive will be carried out for the next 10 days, the minister said.

“Staying at ground zero, all teams will ensure that there is no open burning anywhere in Delhi, and if incidents of burning are found, action will be taken by the teams against the concerned people… People can also register a complaint on the ‘Green Delhi’ application in case open burning is recorded in their neighbourhood. This will ensure timely action from these teams,” Rai said.

Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said efficiently managing waste alone can bring about a reduction in contribution from open waste burning, however, other sources of pollution also needed to be tackled across different sectors.

“As per recent data, only around 50-60% of Delhi’s waste was being processed, with the rest ending up at landfill sites or just being burnt in the open. Simply by effectively treating this waste, both landfills and open waste burning can be eliminated as sources. However, this is not enough and to bring about substantial change, one needs to tackle sources of pollution from different sectors at the same time,” she said.

RWAs, meanwhile, have called the decision to provide guards electric heaters impractical, saying that most guards sit in temporary cabins or out in open, where electric connections are not feasible.

Atul Goyal, who heads the United Residents Joint Action (URJA), an apex body of around 2,500 RWAs across Delhi, said, “RWAs have distributed jackets, gloves and warmers to guards, but it is extremely difficult to provide them a heater as most guard cabins are temporary structures and there are no proper electric connections outside houses. Guards are also on the move in a lot of places, so such appeals may sound good on paper, but are practically difficult to implement,” he said.

Echoing similar sentiments, BS Vohra, joint president of the east Delhi RWAs’ front, said a lot of guards in east Delhi did not have pukka cabins, and such an appeal will be difficult to implement on the ground. “In places, guards just sit outside on a chair, but getting a heater installed there is difficult. We have been trying to distribute blankets and sweaters,” he said.