Delhi govt bats for taking up vertical gardening to reduce pollution
As the air quality of the Capital worsened, the Delhi government urged DDA, PWD and the civic agencies to increase the green cover by making vertical gardening and also suggested a plan to do that. "The Delhi government has urged different agencies to take up vertical gardening in a big way for reducing pollution in the national capital," said a Delhi government spokesperson.
He added that the environment and forest minister of the Delhi government, Imran Hussain, wrote letters to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), PWD and also the municipal corporations in the national capital pointing out its efforts to increase green cover in the city. "Green cover can also be enhanced by undertaking vertical gardening activities on buildings, flyovers, spaces and columns underneath the flyovers. This will help in neutralising air pollution due to dust and vehicular pollution," Hussain wrote in his letter.
In his letters to DDA vice chairperson, mayors of the three Municipal Corporations of Delhi (MCDS) and the PWD minister, Hussain urged them to direct agencies and departments under their ambit to undertake vertical plantation in a big way across Delhi. Vertical gardening involves growing plants on vertical surfaces of urban structures like flyover columns and buildings with an integrated water irrigation system. Last week, LG Anil Baijal, in a meeting, had directed the municipal corporations and the DDA to come up with vertical gardens on flyovers and irrigate them with non-pota- ble water only. He had also stressed on developing green parks on vacant gram sabha lands, to achieve the goal of 'Green Delhi'.
Meanwhile, farmers have started harvesting the wheat crop in Punjab, Haryana and many other parts of the National Capital Region. According to farmer groups in these states, small-scale crop fires have already begun. If not controlled immediately, there may be a peak in air pollution levels in NCR in the coming weeks. Already, Gurgaon has reported “very poor” air quality in the last week (April 18 onwards) compared to “poor” prior to that. Delhi's air quality is oscillating between “poor” and “very poor”, but improved to “moderate” on Monday, owing to favourable wind speed. This, however, is likely to change this week.