The Kejriwal Government is putting its best step forward to reduce pollution in Delhi. In its resolve to fight against the recurring problem, the Delhi Government is constantly introducing innovation in its battle against pollution. Environment Minister Shri Gopal Rai on Tuesday informed that the Kejriwal Government had found impressive results while trialling the bio-decomposer on crop-stubble and had identified it as an important measure to deal with stubble burning. A delegation of the Delhi Government will meet with the Union Environment Minister and Commission For Air Quality Management to discuss stubble-burning in neighbouring states and present measures to combat it. The Environment Minister urged the Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh governments to implement solutions like the Delhi Government to reduce vehicular & dust pollution. He said that if the governments cooperate and adopt ample anti-pollution measures, then not just Delhi but entire North India can get freedom from pollution
Shri Gopal Rai said, “We see an exorbitant rise in air pollution in Delhi and the rest of North India during winters. Multiple factors like dust and vehicle pollution contribute to this, however stubble burning is the biggest contributor to the problem. There have been constant discussions on this problem, but no practical solution emerged out of those. Last year, with the help of the Pusa Institute, trials were conducted to figure out whether crop-stubble could be decomposed using bio-decomposer solutions. The Delhi Government found the bio-decomposer to be highly effective when it was sprayed on stubble.”
“We are now at a juncture where all the governments of the states surrounding Delhi need to take cognisance of the bio-decomposing solution. Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh governments need to step-up and adopt this measure so that we can get relief from the stumbling block of stubble burning. We presented the results from our trials in Delhi in front of the Commission For Air Quality Management, but the process needs to be sped up. In resolve for this, a delegation of the Delhi Government will meet with the Union Ministers as well as the members of the Commission For Air Quality Management. If we do not start working towards it soon, then we may not be able to deal with the problem of stubble burning in time,” he added.
“The Delhi Government will also discuss the measures it has been taking to combat air pollution with the Commission so that they can be adopted by neighbouring states. For instance, we started the ‘Red Light On, Gaadi Off’ campaign in Delhi. Such campaigns should be initiated in other states as well; the Anti-Dust campaign of Delhi is combating dust pollution and needs to be adopted by neighbouring states as well. The Delhi Government is in a battle against pollution in the state. The ‘Green War Room’ acts as the command centre in this fight and helps the government monitor the problem and the implementation of its solutions. We want to discuss the concept of such war rooms as well with the Union and the Commission so that more efficient steps can be taken to combat this problem. The states need to come together to work on a Joint Action Plan in order to put up a stronger fight against pollution,” the Environment Minister said.
“The Delhi Government is committed towards making the state pollution free. The Delhi Environment Ministry and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee will start working on the Winter Action Plan from next week. However, it is very difficult to reduce pollution in the whole of North India just by making efforts in Delhi. We will set out on the tough roads too, but the whole fight will be a lot easier if all the states cooperate. Cohesive cooperation can help reduce pollution significantly not just in Delhi but in the whole of North India,” he said.
The Environment Minister also took to Twitter to share the development, “Will meet with the Commission For Air Quality Management and Union Environment Minister regarding the problem of stubble burning in neighbouring states and the steps taken by the Delhi Government to solve it.”
(EW Correspondent)
