New Delhi [India]: Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Thursday held a review meeting with his cabinet colleagues amid prevailing concerns over the rising levels of pollution in the National Capital.
The meeting was attended by Finance and Revenue Minister Atishi, Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj, Transport Minister Kailash Gehlot, Social Welfare Minister Rajkumar Anand and Food and Supply Minister Imran Hussain.
Rai said,” …Senior officers, secretaries and department HoDs have been asked to be on-ground to monitor the pollution situation. As per the weather department, there may be clouds next two days”.
“It is expected the wind speed will remain the same as today till the next week. In this situation we need to control the sources of pollution,” He added.
Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj suggested inducing artificial rain through cloud seeding to “bring down” the smog suspended in the air.
“Delhi has such a geological position that some big cities along with it get polluted during this time of the year and the AQI reaches ‘Severe’ level. One option is artificial rain through cloud seeding to settle down the smog suspended in the environment,” he suggested.
He further said that they had a meeting with experts at IIT Kanpur and the government will sign a Memorandum of Understanding with them.
According to the data issued by the System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research (SAFAR-India), AQI in Delh University was recorded at 392 (very poor category), while Dhirpur area the AQI stood at 456 (severe category) at 3 pm today.
The air quality at Lodi Road was recorded at 360 (very poor category), while NOIDA stands at 464 (severe category) at 3 pm today.
Ahead of the meeting, Minister Rai commenting on stubble burning cases in Punjab, said while speaking to ANI, “Stubble burning is much less than last year. Previously, stubble burning was happening in a scattered manner. Now that the sowing season is coming, they (farmers) are in a rush to burn it all”.
According to doctors, for any healthy person, a recommended AQI should be less than 50, but these days the AQI has spiked beyond 400, which could prove fatal for those suffering from lung-related diseases and even pose a risk of lung cancer.
