E-Paper
Need to work on a war footing to stop pollution spike: Delhi minister
New Delhi:
New Delhi:
Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai on Wednesday said all agencies need to work together on a ‘war footing’ to stop air pollution from spiking this winter as the situation is already complex with the Covid-19 pandemic, even as his party colleague and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national spokesperson Raghav Chadha accused the Punjab and Haryana governments of “dereliction of duty” in tackling stubble burning.
The Delhi leaders’ comments came as the city’s air quality touched the ‘poor’ category on Wednesday for the first time since June this year.
Rai said the government’s focus this year is on curbing dust pollution for which a campaign was launched on October 5, which will go on till October 15.
“Over the past five years, because of efforts by the government and people, overall pollution levels decreased by 25%. This year, more vigilance is required on part of all agencies and neighbouring states to curb pollution, and not let it aggravate the Covid-19 situation,” Rai told reporters. He said working together is crucial as Delhi falls in the airshed area where activities around 300 km of its radius contribute to high air pollution levels in the city.
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee has constituted 14 teams to inspect various locations to ensure dust-control norms are being followed at construction and demolition sites and ready-mix plants.
“This August we had directed that all construction sites bigger than 20,000 square metres will have to mandatorily install anti-smog guns to control dust. In a recent inspection of 39 such sites, we found that six have not been following norms and these agencies were asked to stop work. At most sites, construction and demolition work is being taken up by central government agencies,” Rai said.
Rai said he will inspect these sites on Friday and if they are still not following rules, work will not be allowed to start.
He said states such as Haryana and Punjab must adopt the bio-decomposer technology initiated in Delhi to tackle stubble burning. “Even though stubble burning is negligible in Delhi. we have taken this initiative to create a role model for other states,” he said.
Chadha, in a separate press meet, said: “The states of Punjab and Haryana are guilty of dereliction of duty towards dealing with air pollution and stopping stubble burning. The first week of October has seen stubble burning increase nine-fold in Punjab and three-fold in Haryana, compared to the corresponding period last year.”
“On the one hand, the Prime Minister talks about combating air pollution. On the other hand, the BJP government in Haryana disregards his advice. The state governments of Punjab and Haryana have chosen to blindfold themselves on the issue of stubble burning. AAP demands that the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority recommends stringent action against the two governments,” he said.
EPCA chief Bhure Lal said, “We have already directed the state governments of Haryana and Punjab to take action against the rising incidents and step up surveillance. They have started several measures to stop stubble burning in smaller patches of farmlands, which used to go unnoticed before.”
