Delhi CM Kejriwal unveils 15-point winter action plan to curb air pollution

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday announced the ‘Winter Action Plan’ to combat pollution levels ahead of the season. He said that pollution levels declined in the national capital due to government initiatives.

The number of days witnessing severe pollution levels declined in the last eight years due to several initiatives of the government, such as the introduction of electric buses and the EV Policy, among others, he said at a press conference.

The Delhi government has identified 13 hotspots — Anand Vihar, Mundka, Wazirpur, Jahangirpuri, R K Puram, Rohini, Punjabi Bagh, Okhla, Bawana, Vivek Vihar, Narela, Ashok Vihar and Dwarka — where pollution control rooms will be set up to monitor the situation.

“The air quality in the national capital has slightly improved. In 2014, PM 10 used to be 324 and now it is 223. There is 30 percent reduction in pollution levels,” the chief minister said.

• Kejriwal said the Pusa bio decomposer that prevents stubble burning will be sprayed on 5,000 hectares of farmland this year against 4,400 hectares last year. The Pusa bio decomposer, developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) here, is a microbial solution that can turn paddy straw into manure in 15-20 days.
• The government will deploy 530 water sprinklers to prevent dust pollution and 385 teams will check vehicles’ pollution certificates and prevent the plying of overage cars.
• Eighty-two mechanical road-sweeping machines and 530 water-sprinkling machines will ply across the city to make the roads dust-free.
• Kejriwal said burning garbage in the open is banned in Delhi and 611 teams will monitor its implementation.

In 2018, the Supreme Court banned diesel and petrol vehicles older than 10 and 15 years, respectively, in Delhi. It had added that the vehicles plying in violation of the order would be impounded.

A 2014 order from the National Green Tribunal bars vehicles older than 15 years to be parked in public places.

He also urged people to download the Green Delhi mobile application and report any pollution-causing activity to the government.

With inputs from PTI