Dr Harsh Vardhan asks states to check air pollution

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Dr. Harsh Vardhan on September 5, 2017, called upon the state governments of Delhi-NCR region to initiate all necessary action on  war footing for management of air pollution so that the kind of episodic rise of air pollution seen last year is not repeated during the coming months.

Addressing the meeting of the Chief Secretaries and senior officers of Delhi and NCR, the Minister said that efficient management of air pollution was the duty of all concerned. He sought the participation of people in it saying without it desired results will be difficult to achieve. Dr Harsh Vardhan stated that simple steps can go a long way in reducing the levels of pollution such as prevention of biomass and crop burning, better management of crop residue, sprinkling water on dusty roads, dust mitigation at all construction and demolition sites, closure of unauthorised brick kilns, installation of vapour recovery at fuel stations, avoidance of over-loaded vehicles and strict implementation of ‘Pollution Under Check’ certification, according o aPIB release.

Dr Harsh Vardhan said,” We should ensure implementation of all long-term actions as directed by the Central Government in right earnest besides strict implementation of Graded Response Action Plan for various levels of pollution.” He called upon the states to put up systems to ensure that action according to various levels of pollution are implemented with full involvement of stakeholders.  Dr Harsh Vardhan also called upon all the states to ensure that Control Rooms and regular meetings of the Task Force are held for timely intervention.

He also referred to the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 and Diwali and said that the Ministry has already initiated efforts for Clean Air by organising `Harit Diwali – Swasth Diwali’ campaign with large number of students. He further said that requests have been made to all the Chief Secretaries to ensure that firecrackers which are not compliant to the laid down norms are not sold. He said that the Central Government shall keep a close watch on the progress during the next 4-5 months to ensure cleaner air during winter this year, according to the PIB release.

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Chairman said that CPCB had constituted 40 teams for the purpose of monitoring implementation of action.