New Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government will launch a new ‘Summer Action Plan’ to address the issue of pollution throughout the season in the national capital. Environment Minister Gopal Rai chaired a meeting of all concerned departments at the Delhi Secretariat regarding the Summer Action Plan on Wednesday (April 12).
Later in the day, Minister Rai addressed a press conference at the Delhi Secretariat. He said,
As a result of the Winter Action Plan implemented by the CM Arvind Kejriwal government during the winter season, there has been a steady decline registered in the presence of PM 10 and PM 2.5 in Delhi. According to a Survey conducted in 2022-23, between 2016 and 2021, the number of days in Delhi’s AQI in good, satisfactory and moderate categories increased from 109 to 160 and the number of days in poor and very poor categories decreased from 217 to 196.
Further he added,
In addition, between 2016 and 2022, the number of days falling into the severe category declined as well; from 26 in 2016, it was only 6 in 2022. During the past eight years, the pollution level in Delhi has decreased by 30 per cent as a result of ongoing efforts.
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Minister Rai said,
As a result, following the success of the Summer Action Plan from the previous year, the CM Kejriwal government has begun making preparations to introduce a new Summer Action Plan to address the issue of pollution throughout the summer.
The minister further stated,
Immediate and long-term action plans for the control of Delhi’s pollution will be put into effect as part of this action plan. In this regard, a joint meeting of all the relevant departments was held today at the Delhi Secretariat. The primary goal of this meeting is to create a joint action plan to combat pollution in Delhi. During the meeting, 16 main focus points were determined.
Highlighting the role of different departments, the Environment Minister said,
Specific tasks have been assigned to different departments to prepare an action plan based on the 16 focus points identified under the Summer Action Plan. On this, all the departments will give their detailed report to the Environment Department within 7 days i.e., by April 20. Based on this, a summer action plan will be prepared.
Officers from Environment Department, DPCC, Development Department, Delhi Cantonment Board, CPWD, DDA, Delhi Traffic Police, Delhi Police, DTC, Revenue Department, DSIIDC, Education Department, DMRC, PWD, Transport Department, NHAI, Delhi Jal Board, DUSIB, NDMC were present in the meeting.
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(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
