Delhi Ministers To Work At Ground Level To Control Pollution: Gopal Rai

New Delhi [India]: As the overall air quality in Delhi remained in ‘very poor’ category on Thursday, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said that all Delhi ministers will work at the ground level to ensure the implementation of air pollution control measures.

“Today, a joint meeting was held with all the ministers of Delhi and discussions were held on how to activate the departments because implementation is a big challenge. The Cabinet has expressed displeasure over administrative laxity. The ministers will be working at the ground level in different districts,” Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said after a review meeting on Thursday.

While Gopal Rai is in charge of North and North East districts, Kailash Gahlot is in charge of South West and West districts, Atishi is in charge of East and South East districts, Saurabh Bhardwaj is in charge of South and New Delhi, Imran Hussain is in charge of Central and Shahdara and Rajkumar Anand is in charge of North West district.

Rai said that the Ministers in their respective districts will be giving orders to the officers in charge of pollution control and will hit the ground for inspection as well.

“This minister will give orders to the officers associated with pollution duty and will also visit the ground himself. These visits will be especially on the borders of Delhi and there will also be visits to construction sites because, even though construction work has stopped at many places, rules regarding dust control have not been implemented. Officials have also been ordered to inspect,” he said.

“It is expected that there will be clouds the day after tomorrow but it is difficult to say whether it will rain or not. In such a situation, our effort is to implement the rules,” the Delhi Environment Minister added.

Meanwhile, the overall air quality in Delhi remained in the ‘very poor’ category at 6 am on Thursday, as per the data by the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR). The Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 398 after crossing 400 (severe category) over the past few days.

Currently, Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) has been implemented in the national capital after the city’s air quality plummeted to the ‘severe plus’ category.

To bring relief from severe air pollution in the national capital, the Delhi government is planning to attempt artificial rain. The proposal has been submitted to the Supreme Court, said Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Wednesday.