'Red Light On, Gaadi Off': Kejriwal's New Campaign To Cut Down Delhi-NCR Air Pollution; Know All About It

Announcing the 'Red Light On, Gaadi Off' campaign, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal talked about the benefits of the step in tackling the issue of air pollution and also significantly reducing people's spend on fuel.

Screenshot: Twitter/@ArvindKejriwal

New Delhi: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, on Thursday, announced another initiative called 'Red Light On, Gaadi Off' campaign to tackle the problem of air pollution in the national capital.  Kejriwal began his address by talking about how ahead of the winter season, stubble burning in neighbouring states contributes to the air pollution levels in Delhi, expressing worry over the pollution within the villages where farmers are "compelled" to burn the leftover stubble in their fields. He added that Delhi cannot do much about what is happening in other states but people here can take certain steps to tackle the issue themselves. Mentioning certain measures already taken such as the Anti-dust campaign, encouraging the use of bio-decomposer for farm stubble in Delhi, electrical vehicle policy, and transplantation policy, the Delhi CM began elaborating the new initiative. As the title 'Red Light On, Gaadi Off' suggests, the campaign urges people to turn off their car engines when they stop the vehicle at a red light. "Delhi has 1 crore registered vehicles. If 30-40 lakh vehicles come on the road every day and keep idling at traffic signals, imagine the amount of air pollution caused," Arvind Kejriwal said. "If even 10 lakh vehicles have their car engine turned off while idling at a traffic signal, experts estimate that 1.5 tonnes of PM 10 and 0.4 tonnes of PM 2.5 will be prevented. They further revealed that a minute of idling at red light consumes more fuel that while we are driving," the CM added.

While waiting on a traffic signal, we must switch our vehicles off. Launching another initiative to tackle air pollution in Delhi | LIVE https://t.co/CCNIdHgbHJ

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 15, 2020

He highlighted the benefits of this step in not just reducing pollution level but also how it can help car owners save money as according to him, they can save about Rs 7,000 annually in terms of spend on fuel by adopting this step. The Chief Minister expressed his hope that locals will make this drive successful while urging bus drivers, truck drivers and more to join the call. "With the Coronavirus situation prevalent, the problem of increase in air pollution can prove to be life-threatening for all of us," he said as he informed that massive awareness campaigns will be launched by the government to take the message home to every citizen. WATCH | Arvind Kejriwal launches 'Red Light On, Gaadi Off' campaign | Newsgram