Delhi stubble burning: While addressing a press conference in the national capital today (September 29), Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal spoke about the issue of stubble burning and its impact in the coming months.
Arvind Kejriwal also said that pollution levels declined in the national capital due to government initiatives as he announced the winter action plan to curb pollution.
CM Kejriwal said, "In Punjab, we formed our Government in March last year (2022). The data from last year shows the steps taken in 6-7 months led to a 30 per cent reduction in stubble burning. This year Bhagwant Mann has taken several steps. One of which is the diversification of crops- instead of paddy grow other crops. This will save water and lower stubble burning. It has yielded good results. Secondly, the varieties of paddy - the short-term varieties have. This has less stubble and it need not be burnt. Ex-situ management of stubble - for this a few companies have adopted districts and will carry their stubble to convert it into manure or electricity. I think there should be improvement this year."
Delhi CM on industrial units:
"There were two thermal power plants in Delhi, both of them have been shut now. Heavy fines are being imposed over those responsible for dust pollution. Industrial units in Delhi earlier used polluting fuel but now they have been shifted to piped natural gas (PNG)," said Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Friday.
The number of days witnessing severe pollution levels declined in the last eight years due to several initiatives of the government, such as the introduction of electric buses and the EV Policy, among others, he said at a press conference.Winter action plan:
Announcing the winter action plan, Kejriwal said the Pusa biodecomposer that prevents stubble burning will be sprayed on 5,000 hectares of farmland this year against 4,400 hectares last year. The Pusa biodecomposer, developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) here, is a microbial solution that can turn paddy straw into manure in 15-20 days.
The government will deploy 530 water sprinklers to prevent dust pollution and 385 teams will check vehicles' pollution certificates and prevent the plying of overage cars.
In 2018, the Supreme Court banned diesel and petrol vehicles older than 10 and 15 years, respectively, in Delhi. It had added that the vehicles plying in violation of the order would be impounded.
A 2014 order of the National Green Tribunal bars vehicles older than 15 years to be parked in public places. Kejriwal said burning garbage in the open is banned in Delhi and 611 teams will monitor its implementation.
He also urged people to download the Green Delhi mobile application and report any pollution-causing activity to the government.
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