New Delhi, Sept 20: Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai on Wednesday requested the Centre to call a review meeting of states neighbouring the national capital in view of beginning of parali (crop stubble) burning.
In his letters to Union minister of environment Bhupender Yadav and Union agriculture minister Narendra Tomar, Rai said efforts to curb pollution in Delhi will not succeed unless parali burning is prevented in the neighbouring states.
He said that the Centre had held a meeting with NCR states on August 3 on parali issue, despite that incidents of crop stubble burning has started again.
“Therefore, a review meeting of all the states concerned needs to be convened soon so that a joint action plan could be firmed up and incident of parali burning is checked,” Rai said.
Saying that Delhi government has been taking several steps under its Winter Action plan to check spike in pollution witnessed in the winter season.
These steps include use of a biodecomposer, running campaigns for controlling dust, measures for pollution hotspots, and drive against open burning of garbage among others, he said.
“However, unless incidents of parali burning is not prevented in the NCR, these steps will not be effective,” said the minister.
The Delhi government along with the people of the city is taking various steps to ensure a better environment, he said.
The level of PM10 and PM2.5 have recorded 42 and 46 per cent decline in past nine years as a result of these steps, he added.
“The government has successfully addressed the pollution issue in Delhi and will continue to do so. However, without a coordinated effort, addressing the winter pollution problem in Delhi is challenging. We urge the Central Government to collaborate with the Delhi Government in this regard to effectively execute this year’s Winter Action Plan,” he said. (PTI)
