L-G directs deploying terminated bus marshals in pollution mitigation duties
Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) VK Saxena on Thursday directed the Divisional Commissioner to call Civil Defence Volunteers (CDVs) for four months to mitigate air pollution in the Capital, beginning November 1.
‘Will help provide relief to families’
The govt may consider deploying CDVs for duties at PUC Certificate centres, pollution hotspots, Delhi Pollution Control Committee and urban local bodies. This would provide relief to families who were misled into non-existent jobs. — VK Saxena, L-G
Saxena, who is also the Chairman of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), announced the decision in a meeting held to take stock of the situation arising out of prevalent air pollution in the city. The meeting was attended by Chief Minister Atishi, who is the Vice-Chairperson of the DDMA, Environment Minister Gopal Rai, Chief Secretary and all senior officers and members of the DDMA.
Raj Niwas officials said the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) presented the forecast of air quality in the Capital. “In the DDMA meeting, the DPCC presented a grim prognosis of air quality in the comings months. Air quality is projected to reach hazardous levels on multiple occasions when the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) will be forced to invoke Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) Stage IV measures, which also have a cascading impact on the economy.”
Currently, Delhi has begun witnessing smoky air with the air quality index reaching 364 on October 23.
The DPCC officials informed during the meeting that the lack of adequate enforcement machinery hampers their efficacy for various measures invoked by CAQM and the state government and other government agencies.
“In these months, multiple factors — transport, road dust, construction dust, stubble burning, waste burning, firewood burning etc — need to be addressed simultaneously. This requires adequate manpower to be activated in a decentralised fashion,” DPCC officials said.
Saxena suggested that the Divisional Commissioner be advised to call out services of CDVs, specifically of those who were engaged as on October 31, 2023, for four months and engage them for air pollution mitigation activities.
The CDVs, till October 31 last, were deployed as bus marshals in Delhi Transport Corporation buses. However, their services were abruptly terminated with both the L-G and the AAP blaming each other for stopping the service.
The L-G advised that in the interim, over the next four months, the government must take concrete steps on formulating a scheme for bus marshals, clearly defining their role and service conditions. Saxena emphasised the need to mitigate internal sources of air pollution in the city, a point on which all stakeholders agreed, officials said. “Dust was identified as the largest internal source of air pollution that could be tackled immediately, whereas issues like vehicular emissions would require more long-term solutions,” the L-G stated.
He highlighted that following a recent meeting of the CAQM, he had instructed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to begin a mission-mode operation for collecting dust-generating construction and demolition (C&D) waste, dried silt and cleaning road dust. “The results have been very encouraging, with MCD and DDA collecting and disposing of 15,000 metric tonnes (MT) and 8,000 MT of dust, respectively, in the past fortnight,” an official said.
The Chief Minister and Environment Minister acknowledged that this drive has significantly improved the situation and directed officials from the Public Works Department (PWD) and the Environment Department to undertake similar efforts in mission mode, they added.
The Environment Minister pointed out that vehicles were entering the city despite the availability of alternate routes via the Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressways, and emphasised the need for stricter enforcement to prevent this. Similarly, the need for strict enforcement concerning open fires, garbage burning and compliance with Pollution Under Control (PUC) regulations was discussed, with a shortage of manpower for these enforcement efforts being a key concern.
“The government may consider deploying CDVs for duties at PUC Certificate (PUCC) centres, pollution hotspots, Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and urban local bodies under the supervision of district magistrates,” said the L-G. “This measure would both provide relief to families who were misled into non-existent jobs and help mitigate the severe air pollution crisis in Delhi,” he added.
