Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Wednesday announced that the ‘Red Light On-Gaadi Off’ campaign would begin on October 26, in a bid to control vehicular pollution.
“This time around, the ‘Red Light On, Gaadi Off’ campaign will begin from ITO Chowk starting on October 26. This campaign will be run with the participation of Delhiites,” the minister said.
He said the campaign would be implemented on October 28 at Barakhamba, and on October 30 at Chandgi Ram Akhada Chowk.
On November 2, it will be carried out in all 70 Assembly constituencies of Delhi. The next day, through the ‘eco club’, an awareness campaign among school children will be initiated.
He recalled that the Delhi government had initiated the campaign in 2020 based on a study conducted in various parts of the country by scientists from the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, and the Central Road Research Institute in 2019.
“According to the study, keeping engines on at the red lights leads to a 9 per cent increase in pollution. When we drive into the city in the morning, we pass through 10 to 12 red lights before reaching home in the evening. Due to our habit, we keep our car engines running at these intersections,” the minister said.
This means that we burn fuel needlessly for 25 to 30 minutes. The goal of the ‘Red Light On, Gaadi Off’ campaign is to change this habit so that people turn off their vehicle engines at red lights, he added.
Rai also claimed that similar campaigns have been carried out in several places in India and around the world.