Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan Ministers Skip Meet On Pollution

New Delhi: As toxic air chokes Delhi, Ministers from Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan on Thursday skipped a crucial meeting held by the Union Environment Ministry although their officials attended it. Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan had called a meeting of Ministers and officials from Delhi’s neighbouring states to study stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana in particular as well as the overall air quality.

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Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain, who attended the meeting, said the meeting should have been taken seriously. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal too questioned the absence of the Ministers from other states. Union Minister Harsh Vardhan said,

Let there be no politics on this matter. We have talked to the Ministers from Punjab and Haryana and they sent their representatives here.

Mr. Vardhan said the stubble burning had reduced by 30 per cent since last year and that the Centre had already released funds to help the farmers but the 30 per cent drop was not enough. Delhi and neighbouring areas saw a spike in air pollution due to stubble burning in neighbouring Punjab and Haryana.

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Delhi on Thursday witnessed “near severe” air quality, while Noida in Uttar Pradesh, as well as Faridabad and Gurugram in Haryana, suffered “severe” air quality. Harsh Vardhan said his Ministry was monitoring the situation and 52 teams of officials from his Ministry, Delhi government and other agencies were keeping a vigil on the environment.

Mr. Vardhan said,

For the next five days, there will be more active monitoring. The time of Diwali is always very crucial as several things lead to a spike in pollution, due to stubble burning, local pollutants and weather conditions.

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NDTV – Dettol Banega Swachh India campaign lends support to the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). Helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, the campaign aims to spread awareness about hygiene and sanitation, the importance of building toilets and making India open defecation free (ODF) by October 2019, a target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014. Over the years, the campaign has widened its scope to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and menstrual hygiene. The campaign has also focused extensively on marine pollution, clean Ganga Project and rejuvenation of Yamuna, two of India’s major river bodies.