‘Pollution control govt’s job... needs joint responsibility’

NEW DELHI: With the spectre of air pollution once again haunting the Capital as stubble burning starts in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana, the Centre is hoping the situation this year will not be as bad as previous years.

In an interview with HT, Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav said the new agency to curb bad air in NCR, Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), will take its remit seriously and also give legal status to the regional airshed (area affected by similar meteorology and topography that restrict the dispersion of pollutants). Edited excerpts:

How prepared is the government this year to tackle winter pollution? You have had several meetings with state governments, what is the feedback you got and what is your assessment?

The most important step that our government has taken is the ordinance to monitor and control air pollution in the national capital region. And the agency that has been created through this ordinance, CAQM, is doing its work effectively. To solve Delhi’s air pollution problem, legal status needed to be given to the (regional) airshed. This happened through the ordinance. Several measures have been taken by the government to manage the primary pollution sources in the region, including vehicles, industries, construction etc. To maintain transparency in pollution data, we have also launched an online portal called PRANA (Portal for Regulation of Air-pollution in Non-attainment Cities). While pollution control is the government’s job, it is also a matter that concerns the public and there needs to be a joint responsibility.

Will you be able to reduce stubble fires this year?

We started working around mitigation measures to control stubble burning in July. The ministries of agriculture and animal husbandry, the Central Pollution Control Board, and our task force have worked together. We also monitored the work that has happened in various states to reduce incidents of stubble burning, and we saw that state governments also took it seriously. Starting July 29 this year, we have held several meetings with all agencies concerned to keep a close watch on the action taken to prevent stubble burning.