The national capital is on the verge of an impending disaster it faces every year: air pollution and poisonous Yamuna River froth. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has constituted 13 coordination committees, and MCD Deputy Commissioners have been tasked with developing action plans for all 13 hotspot locations in Delhi, Environment Minister Gopal Rai announced.
On Friday, the minister conducted an emergency meeting with all departments to discuss air pollution in hotspot locations. This comes ahead of the festival season, after which Delhi’s air quality often falls.
He said that the engineers from the DPCC have been assigned to each hotspot and to reduce dust pollution, 80 mobile anti-smog guns have been deployed in hotspot areas. The minister said that the primary sources of pollution in Anand Vihar are BS 3 and BS 4 diesel buses from Uttar Pradesh and ongoing NCRTC construction work.
Gopal Rai said that with winter at the city’s doorstep, the pollution levels across North India were on the rise. The national capital’s overall pollution levels had reached the ‘poor’ category, and despite this classification, there were 13 locations in the city where the AQI had gradually crossed 300.
These areas are Wazirpur, Mundka, Rohini, Jahangirpuri, Anand Vihar, Dwarka (Sector 8), Bawana, Narela, Vivek Vihar, Okhla Phase 2, Punjabi Bagh, Ashok Vihar, and RK Puram.
Another concern that has come as a challenge for Delhiites is the froth of toxic chemicals present in the Yamuna River. The froth ahead of Chhath is another forever tussle for Delhi with the government claiming that measures are taken to clean the river, but to no avail.
He also said that the AQI in Wazirpur had reached 381, followed by 375 in Mundka, 362 in Rohini, 353 in Jahangirpuri, and 347 in Anand Vihar. He added that for the past 4-5 days, Anand Vihar had consistently topped the list of most polluted locations.
The minister has instructed officials to identify the local sources of pollution in Anand Vihar, which were the reasons behind the increase in pollution levels.
“Alongside this, we also directed officials to identify the local sources of pollution in all 13 hotspots across Delhi, and to submit a report in today’s meeting so that we can create a special action plan for these hotspots,” he said.
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Source: Times Now
