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‘Need to come together to tackle pollution’: Delhi environment min Gopal Rai
Gopal Rai speaks to HT, discusses the Delhi government’s plans to tackle the annual pollution menace in the city
The Delhi government has been working persistently throughout the year to prevent an air pollution emergency this winter, Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai said. In an interview, he added that the state government has not only come up with an action plan, but is also building resources to monitor pollution in real-time across the city so that containment measures are taken at the source. Excerpts:
Delhi has come up with its own winter action plan against the annual winter pollution. Has there been any assessment to check, how effective it would be if implemented fully.
It would be difficult, but we extensively studied the patterns over the past years, and considered them while making the 10-point winter action plan. We saw that besides the local sources of pollution such as vehicular emission, waste burning, dust etc, but during winters it is the external factors like stubble burning that aggravate the situation. Because of a common air shed, which spans up to 250km, the impact of pollution in the neighbouring areas is witnessed in Delhi too.
We cannot sit idle.We are doing our best. Last year we were able to bring the pollution levels down, and we are constantly taking to experts on measures to further reduce pollution in the city.
Through the winter action plan, we are planning to tackle both internal and external causes of pollution. We have launched India’s first war room to monitor pollution. From there, we will keep a close watch on how the stubble fires contribute in pollution load, and note which local sources are active. This will help us take timely action.
You spoke about how Delhi does not have control over external pollution sources, but even within the city there is a multiplicity of agencies. For instance, the municipal agencies and the police do not report to the government. What is the plan to bring all the agencies together this season?
Before coming up with the winter action plan, we held several meetings with all agencies, including municipal corporations and Delhi Traffic Police to sensitise them about the gravity of the situation. We also conducted several training sessions for all agencies so that they are better equipped to handle the emergency measures as the season progresses. The point is that we all have to come together, irrespective of our political ideologies, to tackle this problem. Because pollution impacts you as much as it impacts me or the next person.
From an accountability point of view, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) will be assessing action being taken by each agency, and if any laxity is found, the pollution monitoring and control agency has the power to take action and even levy fines on them.
You have made a detailed plan for winters, but there has been criticism that the government acts only when air quality becomes hazardous, instead of taking measures throughout the year.
This is not true. Though we have been planning to avert the worst, we were taking up both long and short-term measures. However, we have intensified action because of the unique challenges during winters.
The smog tower that was inaugurated recently, did not come up overnight. Work on setting up of our dedicated war room for pollution monitoring was also going on for the past six months. Apart from this, we have also worked on the e-vehicles policy, transplantation policy and plantation drives, which proves our government’s commitment towards resolving this problem.
There have been mixed reactions to the ban on crackers. Some people have backed your decision, but some people have said that this could not be only solution.
Diwali is traditionally a festival of lights, and that’s how the festival got its name. Firecracker bursting was something we picked up on the way. But we are not against the traditional practices. However, we cannot ignore ground realities. We need to understand that these are not regular circumstances. In a few months, pollution levels will spike, and people’s health will be at risk. We will have to choose if bursting crackers is important or the lives of our children and senior citizens.
Last time, we had announced a ban but since it was a late decision, many cracker traders had already stocked up on green crackers. This time, to avoid any inconvenience to traders, and also to ensure that violations are kept in check, we announced the ban early.
You had also requested the Centre to consider imposing a cracker ban on other states around Delhi. Did you get any response?
Not yet. But the idea behind our request was that Delhi cannot implement a strict ban without the Centre’s support. Last year, we saw violations because people bought crackers from UP and Haryana.
You have said repeatedly that environmental protection is a priority for your government. Over the years have you seen any change in the attitude of people and agencies in Delhi towards the issue of environment and pollution control?
Definitely. We are seeing that every year people’s sensitivity towards the issue of air quality management is increasing. This year we launched our green war room and the Green App, and we have received over 27,000 complaints on it. Out of this, we have managed to resolve 23,000 complaints. We also managed to increase the number of pollution hotspots from 13 to 150 based on the complaints of waste burning and dumping, traffic jams etc we received from people last year. We are also going to launch a large scale ‘Jan Bhagidari’ campaign in a few weeks to ensure public participation in our fight against pollution.
As I said, everyone needs to come together to tackle pollution in Delhi.
