An anti-smog gun is used to spray water to curb air pollution, in New Delhi, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022. (PTI Photo)Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai Wednesday appealed to the residents of the national capital to contribute to the fight against pollution. Speaking at a press conference, Rai suggested five things people should follow to battle pollution, including working from home.
Delhi’s AQI, which turned severe (424) for the first time this season so far on Tuesday and was the worst in the entire country, improved slightly to the very poor category (376) on Wednesday.
Hitting out at the BJP, Rai said the party and the Centre want to penalise farmers for stubble burning. The share of stubble burning in PM 2.5 on Wednesday rose to 32 per cent, up from 14 per cent on Tuesday and 22 per cent on Monday.
“The Central Government should cooperate with the farmers and present a viable solution for stubble instead of abusing them. The governments of Delhi and Punjab are ready to provide financial assistance to the farmers to prevent stubble burning. It is the BJP-led government at the Centre that has refused to support us… The Delhi government is making every effort to reduce pollution on its end,” said Rai.
“Yesterday, I visited two sites, one of which had stopped work, while the other had L&T working on construction there. That construction work was going on secretly. No construction rules were being followed there. The anti-smog gun was not installed there and the building was not covered either. I took action and later I came to know that a BJP office is coming up here,” he said.
“BJP spokespersons fraudulently attacked CM Arvind Kejriwal and claimed that by burning stubble in Punjab, he was playing with the lives of Delhi residents. These statements are coming from the same party that petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the ban on firecrackers, rejected the Punjab government’s demand that farmers there receive financial assistance to prevent stubble burning, and stopped the ‘Red Light On, Gaadi Off’ campaign, which was being used to reduce vehicular pollution,” he added.
Here are the five things the Delhi Government wants people to do:
1. Since construction is banned, the minister urged people to report any such activity that is not allowed during the highly polluted days by sending photos and location on the Green Delhi App.
2. As vehicular pollution is among the primary source of pollution in the Capital, Rai asked people to use car and motorcycle pools.
3. People should work from home to avoid trips to and from the office wherever possible, he said.
4. Rai urged people, including those in restaurants, not to burn wood or coal.
5. RWAs should provide electric heaters to security guards so that they are not forced to burn wood or coal to escape the cold, according to Rai.