In a bid to curb rising air pollution in the national Capital, Environment department (ED) of Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) is going to shut Badarpur and Rajghat Thermal Power Plants as they stand out as one of the main reasons for polluting Delhi air.
The ED is going to move an application in the National Green tribunal for the closure of the Dadri Thermal Plant as air pollution in the Capital is mainly attributed to this thermal plant in Uttar Pradesh.
Also, the Delhi Government has restricted plying of private vehicles bearing odd and even registration numbers to alternate days from January 1 in the national Capital.
The Government is also mulling to allow movement of trucks only after 11 pm as they slow down overall vehicular movement which was pointed out to be a major contributing factor to pollution from vehicular emission.
The city Government has also decided to make it mandatory for vehicles to have Euro VI standards for vehicular emission from 2017, two years before the Centre’s scheduled introduction of the same.
The measures were announced following an emergency meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, a day after the Delhi High Court compared the city to a “gas chamber”.
Chief Secretary KK Sharma said public transport will be significantly augmented to take the load of increasing passengers due to the odd-even number restrictions.
All private vehicles even having registration numbers issued by neighbouring States will have to follow the odd-even number formula.
Emergency services and public transport will not be under the ambit of the restriction, Delhi Dialogue Commission Vice Chairperson Ashish Khetan said, while noting that the idea has been borrowed from foreign countries.