New Delhi: Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Friday (November 24) conducted a meeting on increasing pollution in the city despite fewer incidents of stubble burning and pointed out two factors behind it. The state minister held a meeting with the officials from the Environment Department and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) today. The minister said,
Some increase in the pollution of Delhi has been noted. We had a meeting regarding it. The incidents of stubble burning are very few now, and the level of pollution is still increasing. Scientists reported 2-3 factors for this. The first is that vehicle pollution’s contribution is 36 per cent. The second factor is biomass burning. We made some major decisions after seeing this. To control vehicle pollution, we issued the rules of GRAP 3. To control biomass burning, we have directed the related organisations to monitor this especially. especially the MCD, Revenue, DDA, and NDMC, are being given this direction for the fires that are breaking out at various places in the parks.
He further said that for the next two days, the situation will remain the same which can improve after November 27. The minister further added,
Biomass burning will increase as the winter increases. Third, we also discussed the future situation. For the next two days, it is expected that the situation will remain the same. It is possible after November 27 that there will be light rain and the speed of the wind will increase.
The air quality in the national capital continued to hover in the ‘very poor’ category on Friday, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at over 350 in several areas, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR-India).
The overall AQI for the Capital was recorded at 388 at 7.55 am on Friday.
However, as per the pollution numbers recorded on Friday, the air quality did see a marginal improvement from the ‘severe’ category to ‘very poor,’ across several areas of the national capital, but continued to remain hazardous for residents.
Also Read: People Need To Be On Alert To Curb Air Pollution: Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai
(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 in its Season 10 is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Ayushmann Khurrana. 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 a world post 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 well-being, 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.
