Delhi air pollution: What happened at LG-Gopal Rai's urgent meeting? Takeaways
VK Saxena said he had called a meeting with Arvind Kejriwal and Gopal Rai at Raj Niwas to discuss Delhi air pollution which was “extremely worrying".
Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena held a meeting with environment minister Gopal Rai in view of severe air quality in the national capital on Friday. The meeting, chaired by the LG, could not be attended by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal who was out of New Delhi.
Several interim measures were taken during the meeting to curb the rising air pollution in the city.
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Here are the key decisions taken at the meeting:
- People will be asked to remain indoors as far as possible, avoid unnecessary travel and if necessary, to use public transport, so as to ensure a lesser volume of traffic and therefore, reduced emissions and dust pollution, the Raj Niwas said in its statement.
- Strict implementation of Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) measures with regard to the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) on the ground was also decided in the meeting.
- Neighbouring states, especially Punjab, will be asked to avoid the burning of crops through incentives. "It was decided to appeal to the neighbouring states, especially Punjab, which accounted for 1,921 (71.57 per cent) incidents of parali (stubble) burning out of a total of 2,684 such events on November 1, to curtail crop residue burning by incentivising farmers so that the resultant smoke in the region could be checked," the statement put out by LG's office read.
- All government departments irrespective of their mandate are urged to prioritise pollution mitigation in their activities.
- The health department is required to ensure that its facilities are in a state of readiness to assist any resident of the city who needs aid.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Gopal Rai said he urged the LG to issue directions to senior officers to not "boycott" the government meetings and remain cooperative for the implementation of the decisions on the ground.
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In a post on X earlier, Saxena, said he had called a meeting with Kejriwal and Rai at Raj Niwas to discuss the pollution crisis in the national capital which was “extremely worrying".
"I appeal to the people to remain indoors as much as possible and to not expose themselves- especially children & elderly to hazardous ambient conditions wherein AQI has reportedly crossed 800 at places," he wrote on X.
Meanwhile, the MCD has constituted 517 surveillance teams consisting of 1,119 officers to keep a check on stubble burning, illegal construction, and demolition activities on roads in Delhi. The step has been taken after stage III of GRAP was invoked in the city on Thursday. Furthermore, 225 water sprinklers including 30 mobile anti-smog guns (ASG) have been deployed on main roads to reduce dust pollution. The MCD has also installed 20 ASGs across various facilities like C&D plants, SLF, and WTE to curb pollution.
(With inputs from PTI)