In a bid to combat air pollution problem in Delhi, the Delhi Government on Monday initiated its anti-smog campaign which will run for a week. The campaign has started from Delhi secretariat and Government of National Capital territory of Delhi (GNCTD) will take the assistance of Delhi Jal Board (DJB) for the use and upkeep of “Anti -Smog Gun” machine.
As per the Government officials, this gun will be used on Public Work Department (PWD) roads during non-peak hours for checking its capabilities in reducing air pollution.
“The Clean Air for Delhi Campaign is being jointly organised by the Delhi Government in association with the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), from February 10 to February 23, 2018 in order to create awareness among the people of Delhi about the activities which lead to air pollution in Delhi.” the Delhi Government mentioned in their official statement.
Officials from Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) also further said that sixty-six teams have been constituted under the supervision of Sub Divisional Magistrates or Tehsildars.
“These teams also include officers from respective Municipal Corporations, DPCC and Officers of MOEF&CC/Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB),” the official added.
These teams are taking preventive action in different parts of Delhi against instances of sources of air and noise pollution such as garbage burning, vehicular emission-traffic choke points, Measures to ease congestion, encroachment of roads by parking leading to congestion, dug up and dusty roads, Industrial emission, Construction and demolition waste, Use of power generators and DG sets.
launching the anti-smog campaign, Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain said that the use of Anti Smog Gun is expected to suppress air borne particles and dust on road surface.
“The Anti Smog Gun will be used for spraying on road side vegetation also. This process is likely to reduce the contribution of particulate matter which settles on the vegetation due to road re-suspension and windblown dust,” he added. Anti-Smog Gun will be used for next few days on different routes of PWD in consultation with Delhi Traffic Police.
Meanwhile in a joint clean air campaign of Union Environment Ministry and Delhi Government has recorded 4,347 violations, and 1,892 instances of slapping of penalties, leading to collection of Rs 54 crore over the past week, officials said on Monday.
The “Clean Air for Delhi” campaign was launched jointly by Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on February 10 to find a permanent solution to pollution in the National Capital Region, including Delhi, through experiments and an awareness drive over a fortnight. The Environment Ministry has claimed improvement in Delhi’s air quality during the course of the campaign.
“Data from Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) shows that the level of air quality which was in ‘very poor’ category at the beginning, remained at ‘moderate’ level from February 12 to 15 and at ‘poor’ level on three days —February 16, 17 and 18,” a ministry statement said.
The Ministry added that there had also been a noticeable reduction in levels of pollution, particularly in comparison to the level of pollution on the same day in 2017.
As many as 70 teams with officials from the Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi Pollution Control Committee, civic bodies, Delhi Police and NGOs have been formed for the campaign. The Clean Air for Delhi campaign will continue till February 23.