EMphasising that
tackling pollution is a collective responsibility of all the stakeholders and
that cooperation from all is required, Union Minister of Environment, Forest
and Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has expressed confidence that pollution
will be tackled in a holistic manner next year. Chairing a meeting on the
issue of tackling air pollution here today, Dr. Harsh Vardhan reiterated that the
practice of holding regular meetings with the Ministers of National Capital
Region (NCR), to ensure that all the activities on the ground are monitored closely,
will be continued.
Dr. Harsh
Vardhan chairing the meeting to tackle the issue of air pollution
Chief Minister of Delhi,
Shri Arvind Kejriwal, said that all sources that have been identified will be
tackled to ensure that mitigation of air pollution is done effectively in
Delhi. He added that the Government of Delhi will work closely with all
agencies in tackling pollution.
The meeting noted that the air
quality in 2017 was better than the air quality in 2016. The number of good,
moderate and satisfactory days in 2017 were 151, whereas the same were 109 days
in 2016. Similarly, the number of very poor, poor and severe days in 2017 are 181,
as compared to 214 days in 2016.
Some of the decisions
taken at the meeting include –
Strict
measures to be taken for controlling dust pollution. Dust from major
construction sites will be monitored closely and any violation will be dealt
with strictly. Mechanized sweeping will be taken up on a large scale. All
possible assistance will be provided to the MCDs by the Central Government for
increasing the scope of mechanized sweeping;
Fire
from municipal solid waste dump sites will be tackled in an urgent manner. Innovative
approaches, in consultation with Department of Science
and technology, will be adopted at the earliest to ensure that the issue of
pollution is tackled;
It was noted that the Task Force Committee headed by
Principal Secretary to Prime Minister is examining the issue of stubble
burning. It was further noted that an action plan to address this issue will be
ready in the next one month;
It was decided that the decision regarding ban on petcoke
and furnace oil will be strictly enforced in all the NCR states;
Delhi Police will be requested to tackle the issue
of traffic congestion and parking in Delhi;
All steps will be taken to increase availability of
public transport in the medium term.
The Pollution Control Boards will work in a proactive
manner to ensure that violators are dealt with strictly. They will also ensure
that awareness is created among the people. It was also decided that IEC
activities to increase awareness and seeking cooperation from the general
public will be taken up in a big way.
A special “Anti Pollution Drive” will be launched in
the month of January, 2018 for 15 days, wherein there will be concerted action
to tackle the issue of air pollution by all the agencies; and
Close interaction to be maintained with Science and Technology
institutions to use innovative technologies available to tackle air pollution.
Today’s meeting was
attended by Chief Minister of Delhi, Shri Arvind Kejriwal, Minister for PWD,
Government of Delhi, Shri Satendra Jain, Minister for Environment, Government
of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Dara Singh Chauhan, Environment Minister, Government of
Haryana, Shri Vipul Goyal and Secretary, Environment, Government of Rajasthan
and Chairman, Pollution Control Board, Government of Punjab and senior officers
from Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and MoEF&CC as well
as CPCB.
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