The Lt. Governor, Shri VK Saxena chaired a meeting this evening to review the situation arising out of Air Pollution in the City.

Home/ In Media/ Press Release/ The Lt. Governor, Shri VK Saxena Chaired a Meeting This Evening To Review The Situation Arising Out of Air Pollution In The City.
03-11-2023

The Lt. Governor, Shri VK Saxena chaired a meeting this evening to review the situation arising out of Air Pollution in the City. Chief Minister, Shri Arvind Kejriwal, who was out of Delhi, could not attend the meeting. Those present included Shri Gopal Rai, Minister (Environment), Chief Secretary (on video conference), Chairman (DPCC), Secretary (Environment) and Member Secretary (DPCC).

The Lt. Governor reiterated that the situation was worrisome and expressed grave concern over the unmitigated rise in AQI levels.

It was decided that the following interim measures be taken:

  1. All Departments/Agencies of the government, irrespective of their mandate should prioritize pollution mitigation in their activities.
  2. The Environment Department will issue advisories for the people asking for children and elderly people to take extra care and remain indoors as far as possible.
  3. An appeal be made to people to remain indoors as far as possible, avoid unnecessary travel and if necessary, to use public transport, so as to ensure lesser volume of traffic and therefore, reduced emissions and dust pollution.
  4. CAQM measures with regards to GRAP, to be strictly implemented on ground, with compliance being ensured by all stakeholder departments and officers.
  5. All Mechanized Road Sweepers, Water Sprinklers and Anti-Smog Guns (Static, Mobile and those over High Rises) to be optimally used, even in double shifts, if required.
  6. The Health Department to ensure that all its facilities are in a state of readiness to assist any resident of the City, who needs help.

It was decided to appeal to the neighbouring States, especially Punjab, which accounted for 1921 (71.57%) incidents of Parali burning out of a total of 2684 such events on 01.11.2023 to curtail crop residue burning, by incentivizing farmers, so that the resultant smoke/smog in the region could be checked. Apart from Punjab 99 cases of Parali burning were reported in Haryana, 95 in Uttar Pradesh and 60 in Rajasthan.

The Lt. Governor reiterated the need to put in place a long term permanent plan of action, which is earnestly implemented once the on-going emergency gets over. 

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