Govt to monitor pollution hotspots through special campaigns: Rai

Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Thursday announced that special campaigns for various pollution control activities would be launched through the Green War Room to monitor all 13 pollution hotspots in the city.

13 stations in ‘red’

• Residents endured the fourth consecutive day of ‘poor’ air quality on Thursday, with indicators at 13 monitoring stations across the city being in the ‘red zone’, up from two the day before.
• The 13 stations — Ashok Vihar, Dwarka Sector 8, Patparganj, Punjabi Bagh, Rohini, Bawana, Burari, Jahangirpuri, Mundka, Narela, Okhla Phase 2, Shadipur and Vivek Vihar — recorded readings above 300, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

He said the environment department would convene an emergency meeting on Friday with key departments, including the Public Works Department (PWD), Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Transport Department and the Delhi Traffic Police. The meeting will focus on measures to curb pollution as part of the Winter Action Plan.

Rai expressed concern over the rising pollution levels at the Anand Vihar hotspot and directed officials to take all necessary steps to control the situation.

“A special meeting with all relevant officials was held at the Delhi Secretariat on Wednesday to launch a dedicated campaign at all 13 pollution hotspots in Delhi,” the AAP said.

The 13 pollution hotspots in Delhi are Anand Vihar, Okhla Phase-II, Dwarka, Ashok Vihar, Bawana, Narela, Mundka, Punjabi Bagh, Wazirpur, Rohini, Vivek Vihar, RK Puram, and Jahangirpuri.

Meanwhile, the minister said, “A war room has been set up to monitor pollution control activities, and bio-decomposer spraying has begun to manage crop stubble. An anti-dust campaign has also been initiated at construction sites to control dust pollution.”

“Instructions are being issued to the relevant departments from the war room, and DPCC teams are conducting frequent inspections in these areas,” he added.

The war room also coordinates with various departments to address pollution complaints filed through the ‘Green Delhi’ app. “The Green War Room is responsible for forwarding pollution-related complaints to 33 relevant departments and monitoring the resolution of these complaints,” Rai explained.

He emphasised that Delhi’s air quality has significantly improved in recent years. “In the last nine years, air pollution in Delhi has decreased by 34.6 per cent. To achieve further improvement, the government launched an anti-dust campaign on October 7, which will run for a month as part of the Winter Action Plan,” the minister said.

The campaign focuses on ensuring compliance with 14 dust control measures at construction sites. “Teams will take strict action in case of violations, and regular monitoring of construction sites has been ordered,” he added.