Delhi need not panic over pollution: Environment minister

In the wake of slight improvement in the Delhi-NCR region’s air quality, Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan on Saturday said that people of Delhi shouldn’t panic, and appealed that the Graded Response Action Plan must be implemented “earnestly and meticulously” by the concerned state governments.

The Minister stressed that for the first time, this year, a “focused” approach has been adopted to deal with an emergency-like situation through the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).

A task force has been set up to review the air quality in Delhi-NCR well in advance, Harsh Vardhan said.

“The people of Delhi need not panic, as several steps are being taken by the Government to mitigate air pollution,” Harsh Vardhan said, while emphasising that air quality has been improving over the last two days.

“Focused attention at the highest level has been ensured through committees headed by the union minister, minister of state, environment ministry and its secretary,” he said.

The minister said that there have been review meetings with concerned state governments and agencies and stressed that crop residue and stubble burning have been discussed in detail.

He said that as a part of advance planning and special intervention, 40 monitoring teams of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) have been deployed since September 1, 2017, to give feedback on the ground situation and air polluting activities in Delhi.

“A systemic response mechanism was put in place for the last one year and regular alerts were conveyed to all stakeholders,” the minister said.