Delhi govt mulls measures to tackle pollution in city

Delhi’s air quality still remains in the “very poor” category due to factors like plunging temperature and crop burning, a condition that is expected to persist through the week.

The city government’s inter-ministerial task force, headed by PWD Minister Satyendar Jain, met here on Monday and discussed ways to tackle the deteriorating air quality. SAFAR recorded the day’s AQI as 316, which falls in the red zone.

In the first meeting, comprehensive short, medium and long term solutions to tackle air pollution and solid waste management were discussed at length and deliberated upon. 

“The task force finalised its agenda for implementation of a concrete action plan to tackle the twin problems in the coming days, particularly in the winter months,” said a senior officer.

Jain has now convened a meeting of all stakeholders on Wednesday (October 26) to discuss the implementation of the action plan. The participants will include the three Municipal Corporations, NDMC, Environment department, DPCC, PWD, Transport and other concerned departments. 

Special emphasis was given on how to cure the burgeoning problem of the landfill sites in Delhi. Additionally, decentralisation of waste management was also discussed. Innovative, low-cost and effective ideas to tackle air pollution were also the highlights. Measures to tackle the rise in air pollution due to Diwali were also discussed. 

In the coming days, more such deliberation sessions, with all the stakeholders, will be held. The task force will submit its detailed recommendations to the Supreme Court.

AQI (air quality index) of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) monitoring stations located in areas like Punjabi Bagh, Mandir Marg and RK Puram oscillated between poor and very poor categories.

The average (24-hour rolling) quantity of micro pollutants PM 2.5 and PM 10 were recorded by SAFAR at 140.6 and 270.6 micrograms per cubic metre respectively, as against the safe standards of 60 and 100.

NASA’s web fire mapper had red dots spread across Punjab, Haryana denoting that farmers are burning paddy and wheat stubble in large numbers, the particulate filled smoke from which has engulfed Delhi-NCR.

The task force comprises ministers Kapil Mishra and Imran Hussain apart from Jain.