Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Wednesday said that in the wake of current pollution levels in Delhi, the second phase 'Red Light On, Gaadi Off' campaign will be launched from 16th November to 30th November.
"The two crore people of Delhi have to contribute and play their part to fight against it, our small contributions create a big impact. We want to appeal to the opposition to support us in fighting pollution. I also want to appeal to the people, please light diyas and not firecrackers; this fight is nothing without the support of the people," he said.
In order to control pollution levels in Delhi, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal launched the 'Yuddh, Pradushan Ke Viruddh' campaign. Under the campaign, various initiatives have been started to combat several internal sources of pollution in Delhi, and on-ground actions have been taken. The 'Red Light On, Gaadi Off' campaign has been launched from 21st October to 15th November to combat the vehicular pollution in Delhi, under which the people of Delhi are contributing to fight pollution by switching their vehicles off on the traffic signals.
“I want to thank and congratulate the people of Delhi for their support in the campaign. In view of the current pollution situation in Delhi, the second phase of the campaign will be launched from 16th November to 30th November,” he said.
Like earlier, this phase will also aim to make people aware to switch their vehicles off on traffic signals and around 2500 marshals will be deputed on the 100 junctions in 11 districts for the effective implementation of the campaign. Around 20 environmental marshals, each will be deputed on 10 major junctions. The joint monitoring system of the ACP, SDM, and traffic police will continue.
"The Delhi government has sprayed the bio-decomposer solution, developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, on 2000 acres of land across Delhi. This solution has converted the stubble into manure so that the burning of stubble can be prevented. To study the impact of the solution, a 15 member Bio-decomposer Impact Assessment Committee was formed with officials, MLAs and five scientists from Pusa Agricultural Institute. The report of the impact of the solution in various areas across Delhi will be prepared by the evening, and we will submit the report to the CM,” he said.
Rai said that an Anti-dust campaign has also been launched in Delhi. "The two crore people of Delhi have to contribute and play their part to fight against it; our small contributions create a big impact. Please be aware and support the government in controlling the dust pollution. We are also receiving complaints of garbage burning from various locations on the app. I want to tell the people of Delhi to keep uploading such instances and complaints on the app to make us aware of them and take action to douse the fire,” he said.