Lt. Governor, Sh. Anil Baijal chairs meeting to review Air Pollution.
Date:
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Lt. Governor, Sh. Anil Baijal chairs meeting to review Air Pollution.
Though air quality status this year has shown improvement as compared to previous year, efforts have to be made to improve further.
Action to be taken to curb improper disposal and burning of plastic waste.
Develop detailed micro plan for identified hotspot and nearby areas : LG
Number of Environmental Marshals to be increased
Notification on approved fuels to be enforced strictly
Sh. Anil Baijal, Hon’ble Lt. Governor, Delhi chaired a meeting today at Raj Niwas convened by Chairman, EPCA to review the problem of Air Pollution at Bawana, Narela, Anand Vihar and nearby areas, improper disposal of industrial rubber and plastic waste and it’s burning on large scale in these areas.
The meeting was attended by Hon’ble Minister (Environment & Forest), Sh. Imran Hussain; Chief Secretary, Delhi; Dr. Bhure Lal, Chairman, EPCA; Secretary (Environment), GNCTD; municipal commissioners; Spl. Commissioner (Traffic), Delhi Police; Member Secretary (DPCC), GNCTD; Smt. Sunita Narain, Director General, (Centre for Science and Environment) and other senior officers.
A presentation was given by Secretary (Environment), GNCTD regarding Air Pollution issues and action taken at Bawana, Narela, Anand Vihar and nearby areas. In addition Chairman EPCA discussed about pollution hotspot areas where the problem is at the peak due to reasons like burning of plastic and rubber waste, mismanagement of traffic, parking problems and running of polluting industries in non-conforming areas.
During discussion it was also observed that in general about 10% reduction was observed in the particulate concentration this year as compared to last year and air quality has not dropped to severe plus category so far unlike last year.
However, it was stressed that more steps need to be taken. Strict implementation and enforcement of the notification on approved fuels can bring about a marked change in the Air Pollution situation.
Chief Secretary informed that a comprehensive policy is being formulated to regulate operation of Banquet Halls etc. and address the issue of in-house parking, fire safety, food safety, misuse of water, air & water pollution and solid waste management.
It was also informed that from Mundka, Bawana, Narela, Tikri and nearby areas about 35,000 MT rubbers and plastics waste was collected and sent to Waste-to-Energy-Plant for proper management. This step has resulted in significant reduction of fire incidents in the area as per data of Delhi Fire Service.
The work undertaken by the Environmental Marshals was appreciated and it was decided that the number will be increased further.
Status of traffic bottlenecks between Liberty Cinema to Tikri border including traffic intersections at Zakhira, Punjabi Bagh and Peergarhi was discussed in detail and directions were issued to Delhi Traffic Police for smooth traffic flow in this stretch.
A detailed micro plan will be developed for identified hotspots and nearby areas.
Hon’ble LG, Chairman, EPCA and Hon’ble Minister Environment directed all agencies concerned like Railways, PWD, MCDs, DSIIDC and DDA to strictly enforce all the directions and take all possible steps to control Air Pollution.
