New Delhi: With winter approaching and air quality set to dip to dangerous levels in the coming weeks, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will launch a mega anti-pollution campaign today (Monday) after a meeting with concerned departments in the day, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Sunday.
"Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will launch a mega anti-air pollution campaign after a meeting with officials from departments of environment, transport, development, PWD, Delhi Development Authority, Delhi Jal Board, traffic police and municipal corporations," Rai tweeted.
At a meeting of NCR states with Union Environment Prakash Javadekar recently, Rai asked the Centre to take time-bound action to ensure that 11 thermal power plants and more than 1,900 brick kilns using outdated technology in the national capital region control their emissions.
There are 11 plants around Delhi — in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab — which were supposed to retrofit their units with a technology called flue-gas desulphurisation to reduce emissions by December 2019.
Rai said there are more than 1,640 such brick kilns in Uttar Pradesh, 161 in Haryana and 164 Rajasthan.
"All these contribute to Delhi's air pollution massively," he said, adding that a center is being set up in Kharkhari village in Najafgarh where a "bio-decomposer" solution will be prepared in around 400 containers starting Tuesday.
The new technology involves a liquid formulation prepared using bio-decomposer capsules, fermenting it over 8-10 days and then spraying the mixture on crop residue to ensure speedy bio-decomposition of the stubble. Capsules worth Rs 20 can effectively deal with 4-5 tonnes of raw straw per acre.
Meanwhile, CM Kejriwal is slated to speak at the "Daring Cities 2020" forum on climate change for urban leaders tackling the climate emergency, especially in the context of the prevailing pandemic on October 7. The event will also see leaders from Bogota (Colombia), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Los Angeles (USA) and Entebbe (Uganda) speak.
Leaders from the above-mentioned countries have gone beyond their limits imposed by their respective local contexts to take bold climate action and the CM has also been invited as a speaker, a statement from the Chief Minister's Office said on Sunday.
The CM will speak on how Delhi has responded to the existing climate emergency, air pollution crisis including recent innovative solutions such as the Pusa decomposer and the EV policy to tackle air pollution in the Capital.
Chief Minister Kejriwal will be addressing over one thousand mayors and city councilors, urban thought leaders, national government representatives, researchers, business leaders and community organisers from all around the world, his office added. The session will also include speeches by UN Secretary-General, António Guterres. The conference is being hosted by ICLEI and the City of Bonn, Germany, with the support of the German government.