Green cover to 'Switch Delhi': Deputy CM on 'crucial steps' taken by govt to tackle bad air

New Delhi: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday detailed the "crucial steps" taken by the AAP government to tackle pollution and said 1.31 crore saplings have been planted in the last five years due to which the green cover in the national capital has increased.

Speaking on the last day of the Delhi Assembly's Monsoon Session, the Delhi government has planted 27 lakh saplings in 2020-21 under its 20-point program. "In the last five years, the Delhi Government has planted 1.31 crore saplings in Delhi, due to which the green area of Delhi has increased to 21.88 per cent as per the report of the Forest Survey of India for the year 2019, as compared to 10.18 per cent in 2001," Sisodia told the House.

He added that anti-smog guns at 56 sites are under construction and the process of setting up smog towers at Anand Vihar and Connaught Place is also underway.

He said the government also launched the 'Green Delhi App' and 'Green War Room', where 70 "Green Marshals" deal with pollution complaints. Also, to reduce pollution in the city, the Delhi government has begun "Switch Delhi" campaign, under which it has subsidised the purchase of electric vehicles while making it mandatory for all government-funded institutions to adopt such vehicles.

"Additionally, 85 Electric Vehicle Centres have been set up in Delhi as per 31st April 2021. The Delhi government has further improved the public transport facility, because of which the fleet of DTC currently includes 6,750 buses. 1,300 new buses are soon to be included in the DTC," the deputy chief minister said.

To deal with the dust problem in the national capital, Sisodia said the government has deployed 60 mechanical road sweepers.

"Along with this, the work of cleaning 1,612 km of roads and sprinkling water on 1,302 km of roads is done everyday," he said.

Another major problem that clouds the city during winter months -- stubble burning -- was also addressed by the Delhi government, he said.

Sisodia said under the "Green Budget" passed by the Delhi government in 2018, it was decided "to convert industries into PNG-operated industries".

"So far, 1,635 out of 1,636 industrial units have been converted into PNG units. Along with this, to deal with the problem of stubble, free spraying of bio-decomposer was done on the agricultural lands in Delhi. 169 teams have also been deployed for pollution prevention," the senior AAP leader said.