The slugfest between Centre and the Delhi Government over the bad air quality in the State continued with Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday lashing out at the AAP dispensation asking whether it was following the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) directives aimed at combating the severe air pollution in the national Capital.
Responding to questions over rising air pollution in the Delhi-NCR region, Javadekar said his ministry has already held several meetings with the neighbouring States of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan over stubble burning.
Delhi-NCR has been engulfed in a thick blanket of smog since the festival of Diwali on October 27.
“Pollution is genuine problem. When I became the Environment Minister, I called a meeting of all five states regarding the issue. Seven to eight such meetings have already been held. Another one will happen soon.
“The Delhi Government must check out the directions given by CPCB regarding pollution and should tell how much has it followed,” the minister said.
A slew of recommendations have been given by a 10-member anti-pollution task force led by CPCB Member Secretary Prashant Gargava to tackle air polllution in the Delhi-NCR region.
“Delhi Government is asking why have we given 40,000 machines to a population of 22 lakh farmers, I want to say that we have given `1,100 crores. Instead of spending `1,500 crore on advertisements, the Delhi government should give this amount to farmers to address the issue of pollution,” he told reporters after attending an event here.
Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, who is a doctor by profession, took to Twitter to impart some advice on how to counter pollution-related problems.
Vardhan tweeted, “One positive action is to include food items with high level of antioxidants that can neutralise this. Of course, the solution lies in exposure prevention and control.”
On Sunday, he had tweeted, “Eating carrots helps the body get Vitamin A, potassium and antioxidants which protect against night blindness common in India. Carrots also help against other pollution-related harm to health.”