NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will hold a high-level meeting on October 5 where the action plan to control air pollution in the city come winter season will be discussed with all stakeholders concerned regarding the matter.
“They (officials) will present their action plans. After that, the Delhi government under the leadership of CM Arvind Kejriwal will launch a mega campaign against pollution,” said Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Thursday.
Officials of the environment department, development department, PWD, MCD, NDMC secretaries, transport department, traffic police, DDA, DSIDC and DJB will be present for the meeting. Earlier in the day, Rai was also part of a video conference with Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar along with representatives from other neighbouring states.
At the meeting, representatives of the Delhi government made certain suggestions to control air pollution in the city. As stubble burning has already begun in some parts of Punjab and Haryana, the Delhi government in the meeting demanded that the PUSA institute’s bio decomposer technique to counter stubble burning be adopted by other states immediately.
At the meeting, Rai also asked the Centre to take time-bound action to ensure the 11 thermal power plants and more than 1,900 brick kilns using outdated technology in NCR to control their emissions. Rai said that these establishments contribute to Delhi’s air pollution massively and that the central government should intervene and make a timeline within which thermal power plants of NCR should obtain the cleaner new technology.
According to the Delhi government, last year in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Western UP massive stubble burning took place which contributed to 45 per cent to Delhi’s air quality deterioration. Rai also informed that the government will start distributing forms to farmers in Delhi to avail the bio-decomposer solution spray facility, which is free of cost and an alternative to burning stubble.
Disastrous impact of burning a tonne of stubble
According to the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, burning of around one tonne of rice crop residue releases approximately 13 kg of particulate matter, 60 kg of carbon monoxide (CO) and 1,460 kg of carbon dioxide (CO2)and other harmful gases in to the atmosphere