Stubble Burnings Have Stopped, But Delhi's Air Quality Continues To Remain 'Very Poor'
Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said Central Pollution Control Board, has issued a notice to the Delhi government to take strict and swift action on the complaints forwarded to it about activities causing pollution in Delhi and the National Capital Region.
The minister said the CPCB has received several complaints that activities like biomass and garbage burning, improper waste disposal, violation of construction and demolition waste rules, unpaved roads and dust, which cause pollution, are still being carried out in the national capital and NCR.
AQI still 'very poor'
The situation of air pollution in Delhi is still serious. Stubble burning has stopped but Delhi's air quality index still remains in 'very poor' category," Javadekar said.
CPCB's 50 teams inspect Delhi and NCR every day and submits the complaints and observations from those visits to the agencies concerned. Yet, some work is done, some not. Hence, the CPCB has issued a notice to the Delhi government asking it to take necessary and swift action on complaints we are forwarding to it, he said.
Delhi government and all agencies concerned should swing into action now as now stubble burning has stopped. The NCR only has to tackle the problem now, Javadekar said.
Verbal duel over rising air pollution
In October, Javadekar and the Delhi government were involved in a war of words over stubble burning and the air pollution in Delhi.
Javadekar had said that stubble burning contributes only 4 per cent of pollutants in the environment of Delhi.?
Responding to Javadekar Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai asked him what possibly the residents of Delhi could have done in the past 15 days to catapult the air quality to a "very poor" level.
"Air Quality Index was normal 15 days ago; I want to ask him as to what the people of Delhi did in 15 days, which led to this kind of situation," Rai had said.
To check the rising pollution levels across Delhi-National Capital Region, Javadekar had, in October, flagged off 50 teams of the CPCB for conducting field visits to the various hotspots to ensure checks on pollution. The field trips started on October 15 and will continue till February 28, 2021.
Meanwhile, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed all municipal corporations and local bodies in NCR and other cities where air quality is 'poor' to ensure that water is sprinkled on roads before sweeping them.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kunar Goel said the water used should be from sewage treatment plants and not fresh water.
