CM unveils Delhi's 'winter action plan'

New Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday unveiled his government's much aiated 10-point Winter Action Plan to tackle air pollution in the Capital during the winter months — with a special focus on curbing vehicular and dust pollution, aggressive use of the Pusa bio-decomposer, and checking waste burning.

But at the same time, the chief minister warned Delhiites of impending bad air days, blaming the Centre and the state governments in NCR states for allegedly not putting in place concrete policies to control stubble burning.

The CM urged the neighbouring states to retrofit thermal power plants in NCR areas with new technology and ensure the use of CNG-operated vehicles and cleaner fuel in industries in the region.

Claiming that the Centre and neighbouring states have not done anything to check stubble burning, the CM said this will lead to a rise in air pollution in the winter season. He appealed to the governments of neighbouring states to work together to make the air clean.

"The Delhi government has provided a solution to the problem of stubble burning — Pusa bio-decomposer. We hope it will be used as much as possible," he said, adding that NCR states also need to fix electricity supply in their areas just as the Delhi government had done - so that pollution from diesel and other power generators can be curbed.

"For the past few days, I have been tweeting about the AQI figures of Delhi to show how pollution remains under control in Delhi, barring winter. I started this drive on 15th September and we can see that till date, the levels of pollution in Delhi are under control. AQI, PM 2.5, PM 10 all are well under control. Despite all our efforts, no concrete steps were taken by the state governments," CM Kejriwal said.

As for Delhi's action plan to fight pollution, the Delhi government has formed 75 teams for the inspection of construction and demolition sites to control dust pollution, and 250 teams to keep a check on waste burning.

"We have imposed a complete ban on the sale and purchase of firecrackers. The smog tower (at Connaught Place) has yielded good results so far. We will continue to monitor its performance and then take a call on constructing more such towers in Delhi," the CM said.

Special teams have been formed to monitor pollution hotspots. Steps will also be taken to address traffic jams on 64 identified roads to reduce vehicular pollution. As many as 500 teams have been constituted to check Pollution Under Control certificates, he said.

Kejriwal said strengthening of green war rooms and a public campaign will also be part of the "winter action plan".

"A programme management unit has been set up in the green war room with the help of the University of Chicago and GDI Partners, and 50 environmental engineers have been inducted into it," he said.

Delhi had launched the "Green War Room'' last year to monitor and coordinate anti-pollution efforts and the "Green Delhi" application to effectively address complaints related to pollution causing activities.

"We received 23,000 complaints on the app. Ninety-three percent of them have been resolved," he said.

The country's first eco-park to manage e-waste is being set up in Delhi, Kejriwal added.

The chief minister said following in the footsteps of Delhi, the NCR areas should also ensure the use of clean fuel in thermal power plants and other industries, CNG-operated vehicles, hotspot monitoring and round-the-clock power supply to prevent the use of diesel generators.

Brick kilns in NCR areas should switch to newer technology and monitoring of pollution hotspots be strengthened.

Currently, air pollution is under control in Delhi but it will start rising with stubble burning in the neighbouring states in winters, he said.