Nitin Gadkari on Delhi pollution: ‘Will give you infection in 3 days’
Nitin Gadkari emphasised the alarming pollution levels in Delhi and Mumbai, stating it could reduce life expectancy by 10 years.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday highlighted the issue of rising pollution in major cities such as Delhi and Mumbai and said that pollution level in the national capital was so alarming that a person staying there could fall ill in three days.
Nitin Gadkari also said that the pollution in Delhi was taking off 10 years from people’s lives, according to a medical conclusion, reported news agency PTI.
Addressing an event, he said, “In Delhi, pollution is very high. If you stay in Delhi for three days, you will get some infection. As per a medical conclusion, Delhi pollution is reducing the average life of a citizen by 10 years”.
He added that the issue of pollution has not been addressed seriously and that a lot needs to be done in that direction. “Ethics, economy, ecology and environment are important for Indian society but we have not taken the environment issue seriously,” he was quoted as saying by PTI.
‘Road construction key to reducing pollution’
Nitin Gadkari, who handles the road transport and highways portfolio in the Indian government, also talked about how switching to green fuel and reducing logistics cost can help control pollution to a great extent. “We import nearly ₹22 lakh crore worth of fossil fuel. Petrol and diesel are major contributors to pollution. Traffic jams need to be solved. There is need for change in fuel used in vehicles. I am supporting alternative fuels like a crusader. I want to save on the ₹22 lakh crore worth of fossil fuel imports and put ₹10-12 lakh crore into the pockets of farmers," he said.
He also claimed that India’s logistics would be brought down to 9 per cent from the current 14-16 per cent by January next year. He said that India’s aim of becoming a $5 trillion economy can be achieved by building better infrastructure on water, power, transport, communications and more.
"China's logistic cost is 8 per cent, US and EU 12 per cent, but we have 14-16 per cent. We want to bring it down to single digit. By January next year, logistics cost would come down to 9 per cent from 16 per cent," he said.
Upcoming infra projects
Nitin Gadkari also shed light on the upcoming road projects that could significantly reduce travel time, therefore aiding in controlling pollution. He talked about a major new project that would connect Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru and reduce the travel time between the cities. He said that a direct road that will connect to Pune bypass from JNPT near the Atal Setu, which will be three times as wide as the current Mumbai-Pune highways. “From there, it will be connected further to Pune-Bengaluru national highway, bringing Mumbai-Bengaluru travel time to just five hours. The work has commenced,” he added.
"Mumbai-Delhi travel time has also reduced significantly. Mumbai to Delhi roadway duration is nearly 48 hours, but now Nariman Point to Delhi has almost come down to 12 hours. The road construction is nearly complete. Some patches in Maharashtra are still pending."
A new road is being built between Bengaluru and Chennai that will bring down the travel time between the cities to two hours from currently seven hours, he informed.
(With PTI inputs)
