Delhi government announces 10-day drive against open burning

New Delhi: Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai on Tuesday announced a campaign against open burning to control air pollution.
The decision came a day after Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) turned ‘severe’ on Monday (410), which by Tuesday was still highly polluted — in the ‘very poor’ range (366). The city’s air quality had slipped into the ‘severe’ category twice this month, so far.
The minister said the 10-day campaign will be managed by over 611 teams of officials from different Delhi government departments. He also urged RWAs to provide electric heaters to their employees and guards during night duty, to avoid burning of firewood.
“To stop incidents of open burning in Delhi, the government has started a special ‘Anti-Open Burning Campaign’. The 611 teams will work together day and night. Staying at ground zero, all the teams will ensure that there is no open burning anywhere and if such incidents are noticed, action will be taken by the teams against the people concerned. Special responsibility has been given to DPCC, MCD, revenue and irrigation and flood control department for this campaign,” Rai said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
Rai also appealed to all the residents to register a complaint on ‘Green Delhi’ application if any incident of open burning is found, so that the department can quick take action.