L-G okays 4-month deployment of civil defence volunteers to combat Capital’s pollution

Lieutenant-Governor VK Saxena on Wednesday approved the deployment of Civil Defence Volunteers (CDVs) for controlling air pollution in the Capital.

The city woke up to a foggy morning and the 24-hour average air quality index breached the ‘severe’ category for the first time this season, clocked at 418, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

Saxena has approved the deployment of CDVs for four months — from November 1 to February 28, 2025.

Approving the government proposal, officials said it was delayed by 12 days after the L-G initially passed directions to this effect. Saxena has once again urged the government to take concrete steps on formulating a scheme for bus marshals separately.

“He had directed in his letter to the Chief Minister on October 24 and reiterated in another letter dated November 2,” they said.

In a note to the Chief Minister, the L-G said the bus marshal scheme must clearly outline the roles, rationale and service conditions for bus marshals, with Cabinet approval. He further directed immediate steps to create posts and allocate budgetary provisions to bring the bus marshal issue to a logical conclusion, according to an official.

Saxena blamed former CM Arvind Kejriwal for terminating the services of the CDVs as bus marshals in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses in October last year.

After the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) meeting last month, the L-G had directed the Divisional Commissioner to call out CDVs, citing the issue of lack of manpower for enforcement of mitigation measures.

Saxena noted in a message to the Chief Minister, “A decision was made to specifically recall CDVs who were deployed as of October 31 and engage them in air pollution mitigation activities. This measure aims to both support families who were misled into accepting non-existent jobs and to help mitigate the severe air pollution crisis in Delhi.”

“The services of these CDVs shall be utilised only for the purpose of prevention of air pollution in terms with the plan of DPCC and they should not be diverted to any other department for any other work. The DPCC shall define a framework to deploy these CDVs at critical hotspots,” he added.