Delhi pollution has gone down by 25% in last three years: CM
AAP govt seeks suggestions from people on steps to reduce pollution in winters
NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Friday sought suggestions from people on steps to reduce pollution in the city during winters, when stubble burning takes place in neighbouring states like Punjab and Haryana.
Addressing a Press conference, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said people can send their suggestions at cm4cleanair@gmail.com.
During the peak season from October 20 to November 20, a large number of stubble burning incidents are reported in neighbouring states, which adds to the pollution level in the national capital, he said.
Kejriwal claimed that pollution in Delhi has gone down by 25 per cent in the last three years, opposite to the trend in the rest of the cities in the country and the world.
"Today, I want to give good news to the people that instead of increasing, pollution has begun to reduce in Delhi. In the last three years, the pollution in the city has reduced significantly. From 2012 to 2014, PM 2.5 was 154. From 2016 to 2018, it has reduced to 115. The pollution has reduced by 25 per cent," he said.
Kejriwal said that while the pollution in the entire world and other cities of the countries is increasing, it is on a decline in Delhi.
While asserting that much more needs to be done in order to combat pollution in the city, the Chief Minister said, "From 2012-14, that is for three years, the pollution level in Delhi was in the safe zone only for 12 days. From 2016-18, it has increased to 205 days. I am not saying it is sufficient. We have to do much more. But the good thing is that the steps taken are in the right direction."
The Chief Minister also thanked the various institutions and agencies including the MCD and the Central government for the efforts to combat pollution.
The Chief Minister, in particular, pointed out the construction of Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressway saying that it has led to a decline in trucks coming inside Delhi, consequently leading to a reduction in pollution levels. "This (reduction in pollution levels) has not been only due to the efforts of the Delhi government. I want to thank all the agencies involved in the efforts. This has been due to efforts of the Delhi government. We want to thank the Central government, MCDs for their efforts. The Supreme Court passed so many orders which we followed religiously," the Chief Minister.
He also thanked the people of Delhi for supporting the efforts to combat pollution.
"The construction of Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressway is one of the reasons for the decline in pollution. Apart from this, environmental compensation charges were levied. So, trucks began to use roads outside Delhi. The number of trucks entering Delhi reduced by 30 per cent due to Eastern Peripheral Expressway," he said.
Terming it a "big number", the Chief Minister said, "This is a big number. I think the numbers would be even higher for Western Peripheral. Both of these have been constructed by the Central government and we would like to thank them on behalf of people of Delhi for this."
