From Nov 11, Delhi govt to launch campaign against open burning of garbage
Addressing a press conference, Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai said that there are four reasons responsible for air pollution in Delhi-open burning of garbage, dust pollution, vehicular pollution and stubble burning.
The Delhi government announced on Tuesday that it will launch a month-long campaign against the open burning of garbage in the national capital. The campaign will begin on November 11.
Addressing a press conference, Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai said that there are four reasons responsible for air pollution in Delhi-open burning of garbage, dust pollution, vehicular pollution and stubble burning.
Pointing out that stubble burning from neighbouring states cannot be controlled, Rai said, “To curb instances of open burning in Delhi, we will be launching the 'Anti Open Burning Campaign' from 11 Nov to 11 December. A total of 550 teams from 10 departments have been handed over responsibility for the same.”
The departments responsible for the campaign include North DMC, DDA, revenue department among others.
Rai said that these 550 teams will be divided into day and night shifts. “During the daytime, 304 such teams will work while 246 teams will patrol at night to control instances of open burning,” he added.
The Delhi environment minister appealed to all residents to register a complaint on the 'Green Delhi' application in case they come across any instance of open burning.
Rai also said that diesel generator sets in Delhi will shut down and instructions have been issued to the police and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to ensure the same.
“The metro and transport department has been ordered to increase the frequency of metros in the city,” he added.
On Tuesday morning, Delhi's air quality plunged back to the 'severe' category, a day after it had improved to 'very poor.
During the press conference, environment minister Rai also said that the Delhi government has written to the Centre about a joint meeting of states on crop residue burning and hoped it will take a call soon.
