Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Friday announced the launch of an anti-open burning campaign in Delhi. He said under the Summer Action Plan, the Delhi government is going to start an anti-open burning campaign in Delhi for a month from May 15 onwards.

Under the campaign, 231 patrolling teams during the day and 186 patrolling teams at night will be deployed from seven departments. Along with this, instructions have also been issued to DPCC and MCD for 24-hour strict monitoring of landfill sites.

The Delhi Environment Minister said, “On May 1, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal unveiled the Summer Action Plan to reduce pollution levels during the summer time. The departments concerned have begun their work to put it into practice on the ground based on this. As part of this effort, the Anti-Open Burning Campaign will commence in Delhi on May 15th and continue for an entire month until June 15th.”

He said the campaign will involve 231 patrolling teams consisting of 665 personnel during the day and 186 patrolling teams consisting of 564 personnel at night from seven different departments.

“Patrolling teams will monitor 24×7 and prevent incidents of open burning in Delhi,” Rai said.

“Their findings will be reported to the Environment Department on a regular basis. Additionally, the Delhi Fire Service and Forest Department have been instructed to keep special vigilance in this context,” Rai said.

He further said a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) has also been prepared to prevent incidents of fire at landfill sites. Instructions have been given to strictly implement this SOP, so that incidents of fire at landfill sites can be prevented. Along with this, DPCC and MCD have been instructed to continuously monitor the sites to prevent incidents of fire at landfill sites.

Orders have been given to officers for strict monitoring of landfill sites, Rai said.

Rai said, “Under the Summer Action Plan, out of 14 points, 2 immediate action plans have been prepared, which have also been ordered to be strictly implemented across Delhi. We are hopeful that under both the immediate action plan – Anti Dust Campaign and Anti Open Burning – pollution in the summer season in Delhi will be reduced to a great extent.”