Following the serious levels of air pollution in Delhi and the national capital region (NCR) that has left people gasping, Haryana Government on Monday ordered that all the stone crushers in the NCR districts will not be allowed to operate for a period of five days i.e. upto November 12 and fresh manufacturing by the brick-kilns would also be suspended.
The deputy commissioners in affected districts of the State have also been empowered to take decision at their own level to declare holidays in schools, depending upon the situation of air pollution in their respective areas.
Following an emergency meeting presided over by Chief Minister Manohar lal on the issue, Haryana Government decided to implement a multi-pronged strategy to effectively
deal with the prevailing menace of air pollution in the affected 13 districts of the State falling in the national capital region (NCR).
The State Government has also decided that traffic police will be on high alert and Government hospitals would also be functional during night to deal with any emergency.
Manohar lal, who had a discussion with senior officers on the issue of air pollution and measures to control it directed them to ensure that guidelines issued by National Green Tribunal (NGT) are followed in letter and spirit while undertaking construction activities.
He also directed the Health Department to issue an advisory to the people about different measures to be taken to protect themselves from smoke and
pollution which included sprinkling of water in front of their houses and staying away from any work which emanates smoke.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister said that to prevent the occurrence of accidents on the national highway due to low visibility caused by the smog, the traffic police would be on high alert during night hours. All the Government hospitals would also be on stand-by-mode to meet any eventuality and provide immediate medi-care to the accident victims.
Manohar lal also directed to constitute a high-level committee comprising officers of Departments of Agriculture, Health, Urban local Bodies and Industry to explore the possibilities of setting up plants in the state for converting agriculture and urban waste into energy and submit the report within a month.
He said that efforts are being made to permanently resolve the problem of air pollution due to burning of agricultural residue.