Expressing concern over the prevailing pollution condition in several cities of the state, lok Gathbandhan Party (lGP) on Friday said that the government instead of resorting to knee- jerk and token measures to solve air pollution, should adopt a substantial and well-thought out plan.
State lGP co-ordinator SN Singh said on Friday that tackling air pollution required actual political will and coordination which was lacking in the government. He claimed that lucknow, Varanasi, Ghaziabad and several other cities continue to reel under acute air pollution condition.
Singh said that the state government needed long-term pre-emptive action, improving vehicular standards, prioritising clean public transport, social innovation, community awareness and other similar measures to keep pollution under control.
The lGP leader said that pollution has never been a priority for the state government and the official machinery comes out of hibernation only when there was an acute crisis.
Singh said that the NDA government’s much-hyped ‘Swachh Bharat’ scheme can never yield positive results if the government fails or ignore the menace of air pollution.
The lGP coordinator said that UP Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) has not been working effectively and corruption was rampant in the Board.
Stressing on technology-driven solid waste management solutions for all major cities in UP, Singh said that there was no dearth of funds for this purpose but extreme lack of resoluteness, political will and massive corruption in concered departments have hampered the process of controlling the menace. “As of now, the government appears to be ridiculously indecisive and directionless in this matter,” he opined.
Singh said while emergency measures such as artificial rains, sprinkling of water on dust-prone areas and various other steps may be taken to prevent the dire situation but what was really required was a long term holistic approach to address the root causes of air pollution.