NGT SEEKS PLAN FROM PUNJAB, HARYANA, DELHI ON POLLUTION
NEW DELHI : The National Green Tribunal has directed the Delhi, Punjab and Haryana governments to file a detailed action plan by Thursday to tackle air pollution.
A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar passed the direction on Wednesday while observing that the air quality in the national capital was never normal. “You all (states) tell us what steps you will take at what level of pollution. What are your normal steps to check pollution,” the bench said.
During the proceedings, the Delhi government filed an action plan to tackle the problems recommending ban on construction activities and entry of trucks and implementation of odd-even plan, among other steps.
However, the bench asked the Delhi government counsel to file a detailed report, also including details of exemptions given in the ‘odd-even’ vehiclerationing plan.
The NGT had on December 4 lashed out at the Delhi government for not filing a comprehensive action plan on ways to deal with severe air pollution in the city and slammed authorities for holding the India-sri Lanka cricket match despite bad air quality.
On November 28, it had asked the AAP government and four neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to submit an action plan on tackling pollution.
It had earlier directed the Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi Pollution Control Committee and every state pollution control boards to file ambient air quality analysis before the tribunal on a monthly basis and also put up on their websites to enable the authority concerned to take effective steps to control air pollution. KOT FATEH KHAN (PUNJAB, PAKISTAN): Festooned with garlands and colourful bridles, turbaned riders mounted on horseback in full gallop lower their lances at tiny wooden blocks as they practice the centuries-old tradition of tent-pegging in Pakistan.
Less than a two-hour drive from the capital Islamabad, thousands gather at a freshly ploughed grounds to watch the equine festival in a competition that can see riders tossed from their mounts, breaking bones or worse during the dangerous spectacle. Tent-pegging competitions have been held in the subcontinent for hundreds of years but now have largely been reduced to the odd festival, with Pakistan’s most populous Punjab province hosting the majority of such events. Diehard fans of the cavalry sport worry that the tradition is on its last legs, in the absence of official support and a lack of popularity among the young, urban Pakistani masses.
But in northern Punjab’s Kot Fateh Khan, fans show up droves to cheer on the brazen riders. As announcers wail into microphones, riders spur their steeds into a sprint towards wooden blocks wedged in the earth.
“This festival has taken place from the 18th century,” Malik Atta Muhammad Khan tells AFP after taking a stab at a wooden block from horseback. Khan, who claims his great, great grandfather once ruled Kabul, says over 1,000 horses will participate at the week-long festival.
But, despite the abundance of horses, participants fear the sport is in dire need of fresh blood, as the number of breeders raising steeds and riders training for the competition continues to wane nationwide. “The love of breeding horses has been... reduced to a few families,” says Haroon Bandial, a World Cup gold medallist. “Tent-pegging is played a lot in Punjab, but it’s limited to only three to four families in KPK (Khyber Pakhtunkhawa), a couple of families in Balochistan; and in Sindh also one family or so,” he adds, citing the enormous cost of raising horses as a barrier.
Aficionados say they begin training the horses at 16 months of age, a process which can take over two years, while riders need at least three years to prepare. However, Khan remains hopeful: “There are many events compared to previous years.”