New Delhi, (Samajweekly) Delhi Lt. Governor V.K. Saxena on Friday chaired a meeting to review the situation arising out of rising air pollution in the capital city.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was out of Delhi, could not attend the meeting. However, Environment Minister Gopal Rai attended the meeting as did the Chief Secretary, DPCC Chairman, the Environment Secretary, and DPCC Member Secretary.
Saxena reiterated that the situation was worrisome and expressed grave concern over the unmitigated rise in AQI levels.
All departments/agencies of the government, irrespective of their mandate were directed to prioritise pollution mitigation in their activities. It was decided in the meet that the Environment Department will issue advisories for the public asking for children and elderly people to take extra care and remain indoors as far as possible.
It was decided the CAQM measures with regards to GRAP, should be strictly implemented on ground, with compliance being ensured by all stakeholder departments and officers. The meet further decided that all mechanised road sweepers, water sprinklers and anti-smog guns (static, mobile and those over high-rises should be optimally used, even in double shifts, if required.
The Health Department has been directed to ensure that all its facilities are in a state of readiness to assist any resident of the city, who needs help. It was also decided that appeal will be made to the neighbouring states, especially Punjab, which accounted for 1,921 (71.57 per cent) incidents of stubble burning out of a total of 2,684 such events on November 1, to curtail crop residue burning, by incentivising farmers, so that the resultant smoke/smog in the region could be checked.
Apart from Punjab, 99 cases of stubble burning were reported in Haryana, 95 in Uttar Pradesh, and 60 in Rajasthan.
