Delhi Govt. taking all steps to reduce pollution :Rai
He emphasized the alarming rise in pollution levels, which have been exacerbated by stubble burning and other factors, with several areas recording very high AQI readings surpassing 400.
Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai alleged on Friday that the BJP was behind the large-scale bursting of crackers by many people on the Diwali night which, along with stubble burning in the neighbouring states, led to the air quality in the national capital turning ‘severe’. He accused the BJP of “encouraging” people to defy the ban imposed on the use of firecrackers in Delhi.
Rai asserted that “some people purposely indulged in the bursting of firecrackers on Diwali night. The BJP is behind this development.”
The minister told media persons, “I am thankful to a large number of people who did not indulge in the bursting of firecrackers. But some people purposely burst firecrackers. The BJP was behind this. Yet the city’s base pollution level remained unchanged.”
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Rai informed that the situation got worsened because of an increase in stubble burning cases in Punjab and Haryana. The images available from NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) show that there were 3,500 farm fire cases in these neighbouring states on Thursday. And impact of these stubble burning cases was visible in Delhi on Friday, the minister added.
He said the situation would be brought under control with the sprinkling of water in the city, beginning today.
The Delhi government installed an anti-smog gun near the ITO traffic intersection to improve air quality. ITO is one of the most polluted areas in the city. The process of installing many anti-smog guns has begun, he pointed out.
Gopal Rai said, “Several moveable and immoveable anti-smog guns are being installed in the national capital to control air pollution. We are going to instal 10 big movable anti-smog guns on roadsides soon. We are starting sprinkling of water also at the places where there is severe pollution.”
The AQI in Delhi entered the ‘severe’ zone on Thursday evening, crossing the 400 mark on the air quality scale of the Central Pollution Control Board.
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