उपराज्यपाल, दिल्ली

Lt. Governor, Sh. Anil Baijal chairs a meeting to finalize Action Plan of agencies/stakeholders on measures to combat Air Pollution in Delhi.

• Environment Marshals to be deployed in municipal wards to check enforcement of environment laws at the field level : LG

• Reliable, affordable and comfortable public transport with efficient last – mile connectivity a main long-term measure to combat air pollution

• Transport Department to explore incentivization of electric vehicles. PUC certification to be strictly enforced, Intelligent Traffic Management System to be installed to reduce congestion.

• Mechanized road sweeping of atleast 40% roads within one year, currently at 15 %.

Sh. Anil Baijal, Hon’ble Lt. Governor, Delhi chaired a meeting today at Raj Niwas to review the detailed Action Plan (for 08 months and 16 months) of agencies/stakeholders on measures to combat Air Pollution in Delhi.

The meeting was attended by Hon’ble Minister (Environment & Forest) Sh. Imran Hussain, Chief Secretary, GNCTD; Joint Secretary, Prime Minister’s Office; Pr. Secretary (Urban Development) GNCTD; Joint Secretary, Ministry of Envt., Forests & Climate Change, Govt. of India; Commissioner (Transport), GNCTD; Chairman, NHAI; Chairman (New Delhi Municipal Council); Commissioner, North MCD & East MCD; Joint Commissioner (Traffic), Delhi Police; Spl. Secretary (Environment & Forest), GNCTD; Pr. Commissioner, DDA; Engineer-in-Chief, PWD.

Secretary (Environment), GNCTD made a detailed presentation before Hon’ble Lt. Governor regarding the Air Action plan for Delhi for 08-16 months.

Hon'ble LG directed that Environment Marshals be deployed in municipal wards to check enforcement of environment laws at the field level.

Secretary (Environment), GNCTD apprised Lt. Governor about the constructive plan and regulatory plan to combat air pollution in Delhi.

The plan was divided into six categories for tackling different sources of air pollution, which consist vehicular pollution issues, road dust and fugitive emissions, greening of central verges, DG sets and industries, burning of waste etc.

Hon’ble Lt. Governor directed that the plan should be circulated to all the agencies concerned so that further detailed roadmap with timelines can be prepared in this regard. Lt. Governor also desired that for the action points related to transport sub-sector, a separate meeting shall be held at the earliest, and action point related to neighbouring states should also be included in the action plan.

Regarding solid waste management it was informed by local bodies that presently solid waste collection is 10200 TPD out of which 5400 is being processed. It was also informed that SDMC has completed the bid process for a Waste to Energy Plant of 2000 TPD and EDMC will increase its capacity to 2500 TPD in the next two years. Lt. Governor directed that immediate action be taken to increase decentralized processing of bio-degradable waste. He advised EDMC to set up decentralized facilities for at least 600 TPD and North and South MCDs about 1400 TPD between them by October next year. Lt. Governor further emphasized that an independent verification mechanism should be set up to check whether 100% solid waste is actually being collected – with specific focus on poor communities such as slums and JJ clusters.

Lt. Governor noted that local bodies, UD Department should implement a strong behaviour change campaign involving RWAs and Market Trader Associations on proper management of solid waste.

Hon’ble Lt. Governor further stated that steps must be taken to ensure that there are no fires at sanitary landfills. For this, municipal bodies must access special expertise to douse landfill fires and the Expression of Interest invited for this purpose must be processed and awarded within the next two months. Lt. Governor further directed that remediation measures for all the three sanitary landfill sites should be initiated in 6 months.

On the issue of Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste, it was mentioned by Hon’ble Lt. Governor that large construction agencies like NBCC and CPWD that are working in National Capital Region should set up their own facilities for processing C&D waste and reuse the products in their own projects. This should be completed in the next one year.

On the issue of mechanized sweeping of the roads, it was apprised that currently 15% of road sweeping is mechanized. Hon’ble Lt. Governor directed that this should be increased to at least 40% in the next 4 months. As such, procurement/hiring processes will need to be expedited accordingly.

Lt. Governor also emphasized that PWD, Irrigation Department and MCDs must take up greening of central verges, roadside berms, sides of drains, etc. over the next one year with monitorable targets.

Finally, Hon’ble Lt. Governor stressed on the need of increasing the availability of public transport and encouraging the use of Electric Vehicles which can help in reducing air pollution. Transport Department has been tasked to submit a detailed plan on procurement of new buses as well as last-mile connectivity. As vehicular pollution is one of the biggest causes of air pollution, providing reliable, comfortable and affordable public transport is a key measure to combat pollution. He also directed agencies/stakeholders to take up projects to reduce congestion on the identified choke points as well as explore the possibility of using intelligent traffic management system.

Hon’ble LG exhorted all the agencies to work in a mission-mode for a marked improvement in the air quality in Delhi.