NEW DELHI: Coming under attack of the opposition parties over the issue of air pollution in the national capital, Delhi Environment minister on Saturday said that Arvind Kejriwal government is taking concrete steps to control increased pollution levels post Diwali and has deployed 114 water tankers to sprinkle water on the roads.
Speaking to media here, Rai said, “Delhi government is sprinkling water on the roads using 114 tankers.”
He said that due to increased incidents of stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana along with certain elements burning crackers on purpose during Diwali, pollution levels in Delhi have increased.
The minister stated that incidents of stubble burning are increasing in neighboring states. “About 3,500 incidents of stubble burning reported yesterday and about 4,000 incidents reported today,” he said.
He also said that smog guns have been installed on a large scale across Delhi and water is being sprinkled on the roads all over the city through tankers.
प्रदूषण से निपटने के लिए पूरी दिल्ली में 114 पानी के टैंकरों से छिड़काव शुरू। दिल्ली सचिवालय से हुई शुरुआत। pic.twitter.com/9eOaWsu0u7
— Gopal Rai (@AapKaGopalRai) November 6, 2021
He said that the government has found violation of norms at 92 construction sites in Delhi and the government has ordered to seal all of them.
While flagging off more water tankers outside the Delhi Secretariat, Rai said, “Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had launched the Winter Action Plan a month ago to firmly fight against air pollution inside Delhi. Since then, the Delhi government has been working with the people of Delhi to control the pollution in Delhi. Whether it is pollution from dust, pollution from vehicles, pollution from biomass or whether it is the work of spraying bio-decomposer solution for stubble management, campaigns have been carried out all over Delhi.”
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said that the Delhi government under the leadership of Kejriwal has taken a big decision yesterday. “There are 92 such construction sites inside Delhi, which the department had conducted a surprise inspection at in the past and found violations of the guidelines issued by the Delhi Government. All those 92 construction sites have been ordered to be sealed. Orders have been given to SDMs and DPCC that all the sites generating dust pollution in Delhi should be shut.”
Replying to a question, Rai said, “the people of Bharatiya Janata Party are publicly saying that it was wrong to ban firecrackers. The BJP people themselves are shouting that we are in favor of bursting crackers. No other proof is needed for this. The Delhi Police had to take action against those who burst crackers on Diwali.”