Stubble burning: CM urges states, Centre to take bold & urgent action

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday wrote to Chief Ministers of Punjab and Haryana and to the Union Environment Minister, urging them to take bold and urgent action, on the issue of crop residue burning. The Delhi CM expressed his concern on the environmental hazards of stubble burning, through his letter to Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar and Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, urging them to take immediate action.

In his letter, the Delhi CM said, "The health of our people is the foremost responsibility of any government. Unfortunately, high levels of air pollution in winter months in the entire northern India region puts to risk the health of all our people, especially children and the elderly. The gravity of this issue calls for bold, urgent action." Kejriwal also highlighted the efforts of his government and the co-operation of the people in the city which paved way for positive results like, decline in pollution by 25 percent in the last few years.

In the letter Kejriwal said, "To address pollution in the upcoming winter months, my government has already announced a 7-point action plan that has been put into implementation with full swing."

Among a slew of other measures to combat high-level of air pollution, on September 17, the CM had announced a 7-point Parali Pradushan Action Plan and directed Health Minister Satyendar Jain to take immediate steps to begin the process of procuring 'best quality' N-95 anti-pollution masks. A 5-point Winter Action Plan was also initiated to tackle the problem of deteriorating air quality. The odd-even scheme is expected to hit ground on between November 4 to 15 this year.

Kejriwal made the announcement through a tweet stating, "I have written letters to the Chief Ministers of Haryana and Punjab and the Union Minister of Environment seeking urgent steps to deal

with crop burning. I know they are making efforts. But much more needs to be done to stop pollution. Meanwhile, at our level, we are taking steps to reduce pollution caused by local factors."

Seven of the world's 10 most polluted cities are in India and Delhi is the only city in the country where pollution is on the decline yet it ranks 11 on this list, the top 3 Indian cities are Gurugram, Ghaziabad and Faridabad, a report said.

The CM concluded the letter stating, "It is my earnest request that your Government

takes all possible steps to ensure there is an immediate curb on crop stubble burning activities this year. That is the only way we can fulfill our responsibility of securing good

health for the people of Punjab and Delhi."