Delhi government takes urgent steps to mitigate rising pollution

New Delhi: Delhi’s Environment Minister, Gopal Rai, has directed officials on Thursday to take action at 13 pollution hotspots in response to increasing pollution levels in the national capital, including Anand Vihar, facing acute air quality issues. The AAP government has launched a special campaign at these hotspots to overcome the pollution crisis. As per the minister’s office, an emergency meeting is to be held at the Delhi Secretariat tomorrow for discussion on pollution.

The winter is about to fall; therefore, Delhi CM Atishi held a high-level meeting to discuss the increasing air pollution in the city. She ordered to take strict measures to control pollution at any cost and urged the people to give full support to the government’s efforts.

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Stage I of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) has been already implemented in Delhi-NCR. The decision was taken when the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) crossed 200. Several measures are being taken under GRAP, such as mechanical sweeping, water sprinkling on roads, using anti-smog guns, banning waste burning, and controlling traffic jams. Besides this, diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles over 15 years old will be prohibited from running on roads.

The anti-dust campaign has already been launched on October 7. Several violations were revealed during the surprise inspections at construction sites, surging dust pollution. The campaign is likely to be intensified in the coming days due to a drop in temperatures, causing pollution particles to settle lower in the atmosphere.

Gopal Rai highlighted the need to reduce pollution from various sources, such as dust, vehicle emissions, and biomass burning, to improve air quality in the city this winter.