Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav today claimed that 400-plus AQI in Delhi NCR was brought down from 16 days in a year to eight days this time. He promised 15 to 20 per cent reduction in NCR air pollution this year.
Replying to questions in India TV’s daylong conclave ‘Pollution Ka Solution’, the minister pointed out that the previous UPA government sat on the AQI file for years, before it was implemented by Prime Minister Modi’s government in 2014.
“It was in 2016 that we sat up the CAQM (Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and adjoining areas) by bringing a bill in Parliament. The ‘acchey din’ (good days for NCR air) in 2016 was only 116 days, it has now gone up to 200 days. We are working on bringing ‘acchey din’ for the remaining 160 days too, particularly in winter this year”, the minister said.
Yadav said, “during the AAP regime in Delhi, only 15 to 20 road sweeper machines were being, this has now increased to 200 to 300. There were huge waste landfills in Delhi, and we are planning to remove these waste landfills by June this year, if not completely by December.”
The minister claimed there has been 80 to 90 per cent reduction in air pollution due to parali(paddy straw) fires this year. “Central Pollution Control Board is working on 25 pilot projects for better use of parali, while thermal plants have been asked to compulsorily use 5 per cent biomass as parali”, Yadav said.
“There is need for strong administrative will, effective implementation, robust policies and better coordination to tackle pollution”, the minister said.
On short-term and long-term measures, Yadav said, all vehicles below BS-3 will be phased out in NCR, all aggregators, commercial and supply chain vehicles will be converted to electric mode, Delhi Transport Corporation will run 3,000 more electric buses, Delhi Traffic Police has introduced ITMS (Intelligent traffic management system) to identify 62 traffic hot spots where vehicular traffic is heavy, and Delhi Metro has offered to add Rapido rides for commuters.
Apart from vehicular emission, Yadav said, industrial emission is the second biggest contributor to air pollution in Delhi. The minister said, 227 out of 240 industrial areas in NCR region have switched to PNG, while nearly 3,500 industrial units have been kept in red or orange category due to use of boilers. Out of them, more than 1,200 units have installed compulsory online monitoring, while for the remaining units which have not implemented, inspection will begin from January 23.
