Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Saturday that the Arvind Kejriwal government will run an anti-open burning campaign from May 15 to June 15 as part of the Summer Action Plan. According to the minister, 231 patrolling teams during the day and 186 patrolling teams at night from seven departments will be deployed as part of the anti-open burning campaign.
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) have also been given orders to strictly monitor landfill sites 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Rai said: "A standard operating procedure has also been prepared to prevent incidents of fire at landfill sites. Instructions have been given to strictly implement this SOP (Standard Operating Procedure)," he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal unveiled the new action plan on May 1. It aims to combat air pollution during the summer months, with a focus on dust pollution control. The Delhi government already has a winter action plan in place to combat air pollution. The winter plan focuses on stubble burning, firecracker pollution, and industrial and vehicular emissions.
Delhi'S Summer Action Plan
To combat air pollution in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced a 14-point summer action plan. The city government will also conduct a real-time apportionment study of 13 identified hotspots to identify pollution sources and solutions.
In announcing the plan, the CM stated that there has been a "revolutionary change" in Delhi's air pollution levels, with a 30% reduction from 2016 to 2022-23.
He stated that the number of 'severe' AQI days has decreased from 26 in 2016 to 6 in 2022, while the number of'very poor' AQI days has decreased from 124 to 72. He stated that there were 109 days in 2016 in the good/satisfactory/moderate categories, which increased to 163 days last year.
He also said that 84 mechanical road sweeping machines, 609 water sprinklers, and 185 anti-smog guns are being used in various parts of the city to combat dust pollution during the summer. Seventy additional integrated mechanical road sweeping machines and 250 integrated water sprinklers will be installed, primarily on PWD roads.
In addition, the government will deploy 225 patrolling teams during the day and 159 teams at night to identify any other sources of pollution in the national capital.