NEW DELHI: Delhi LG Taranjit Singh Sandhu along with Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, reviewed the status and progress of air pollution mitigation measures being undertaken in the city, especially in the context of the forthcoming winter season.
The discussions focused mainly around measures being undertaken and the plan of action further with regard to mitigation of air pollution caused by dust from roads and C&D waste, vehicular emission, industrial emission and open burning. In addition to this, the hot-spot action plan to comprehensively deal with air pollution in a 3X3 km area around identified 47 hot-spots was also discussed.
In relation to pollution caused by road dust, the dust generated at metro construction sites was flagged as a major concern, by the Chief Minister.
It was informed that bitumen-based road redevelopment works had faced delays on account of the situation in West Asia, which had led to non-availability or limited availability of bitumen. However, with the situation now normalising, the bitumen-based road repair work across the capital has been expedited and the same, along with cement concrete roads, was expected to be completed at the earliest.
The LG and Chief Minister issued directions to the DMRC to immediately take remedial measures at their construction sites and ensure that dust generated from such sites is minimised at the earliest.
They also directed that road-owning agencies prioritise stretches where citizens are actually facing dust problems, with mechanised sweeping, sprinkling, pothole repair and road restoration monitored daily as per the pothole repair SOP.
With regard to pollution caused by vehicular emissions at the identified 62 traffic choke points, the traffic police were directed to undertake a fresh assessment of such points across the city and inform the concerned agencies-PWD, MCD or DDA etc. to take remedial measures as soon as possible.
The LG also directed that traffic congestion and vehicle idling at identified bottleneck points be reduced through better signal management, removal of encroachments and obstructions, junction improvement, parking management and faster incident response. It was brought to the fore that on various stretches in the capital, unauthorised parking by cars, auto rickshaws and e-rickshaws on roads led to a situation, where 60% of the Right of Way (RoW) was blocked, causing heavy traffic snarls and resultant pollution due to emission. Directions were issued to intensify anti-encroachment drives at such identified locations.
The LG and CM called for accelerating the shift from traditional to e-vehicles in the two-wheeler, three-wheelers, LMVs and MMVs etc. and also issued directions for developing sufficient EV Charging infrastructure at the earliest.
On industrial pollution, the LG and CM directed that compliance be made genuinely outcome-based, with the DPCC ensuring that installation of Air Pollution Control Devices and Online Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems translates into actual reduction in emissions, backed by regular verification and immediate action against persistent violators. DPCC was directed to submit a weekly compliance and non-compliance report with respect to industrial emission standards.
In a significant development, it was informed that to ensure fool-proof implementation of mitigation measures against Air Pollution at the 47 Air Pollution Hot-Spots in all the 13 districts of the city, 13 senior officers in the rank of ACS, Pr. Secretary and Secretaries had been made in-charge.
Concluding the meeting, the LG directed that the Secretary, Environment, submit a fortnightly, quantifiable progress report in tabular format, through the Chief Secretary to the offices of the Chief Minister and the Lieutenant Governor to ensure sustained, time-bound monitoring of all measures.