Chief Minister Atishi on Monday announced that the Delhi government will deploy 10,000 civil defence volunteers, who were terminated from service last year while working as bus marshals, to aid in implementing measures related to mitigation of pollution.
The national capital woke up to a "very poor" air quality on Monday although the Air Quality Index (AQI) improved marginally from a day before. According to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the aqi at 9 am was 327, comparatively better than 359 on Sunday.
Further, at 9 am, no station recorded more than 400 aqi. In the ‘very poor’ category, a total of 29 stations crossed the 300 mark including Anand Vihar (356), Ashok Vihar (360), Bawana (368), Burari (360), Jahangirpuri (363), Mundka (365), Nehru Nagar (387), Punjabi Bagh (356), Rohini (354), Sonia Vihar (366), Vivek Vihar (355), and Wazirpur (358)
Atishi, in a press conference, said that following a meeting of officials, it was decided to reintroduce the bus marshals and volunteers to assist in pollution mitigation efforts. “The civil defence volunteers will be deployed in collaboration with various agencies, including the Transport Department and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC),” she said.
Volunteers will focus on ensuring compliance with pollution control measures and will play a crucial role in monitoring vehicle emissions, preventing end-of-life vehicles from entering the city, and supporting public transport management to reduce reliance on private vehicles, Atishi said.
"The bus marshals will be deployed across 13 pollution hotspots and other high pollution area. They will also assist with inspections at 1,000 PUC (Pollution Under Control) centres to prevent any irregularities,” the chief minister added.
Meanwhile, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva stated, “The Civil Defense volunteers, whom Chief Minister Atishi is calling Green Warriors, have suffered due to the chaotic governance of Arvind Kejriwal.”
He mentioned that the Kejriwal government appointed these volunteers as bus marshals without following administrative procedures and made no provisions for their permanent employment. “When the matter got stuck in vigilance investigations, it was Arvind Kejriwal himself who ordered their dismissal as bus marshals,” he said.
The state BJP president said that in light of the hardships faced by these volunteers, the BJP facilitated a meeting between their delegation and the Lieutenant Governor. “At the volunteers’ request, the Lieutenant Governor reappointed them to work on anti-pollution initiatives,” Sachdeva added.
