"15-point winter action plan being implemented to combat pollution," Gopal Rai
Oct 27, 2023
New Delhi [India], October 27 : As the overall air quality in Delhi continues to remain in the 'Poor' category with the Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 249 on Friday morning, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said that a 15-point winter action plan is being implemented one by one to curb the pollution.
"Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had earlier announced a 15-point winter action plan to curb the pollution caused by vehicles, biomass burning, dust, etc. Now this winter action plan is being implemented on the ground one by one to reduce the pollution in the national capital," Rai told ANI.
The Delhi Minister said that since one of the major causes of the pollution is vehicles, they have started the 'Red Light on, Gaadi off' campaign on Thursday.
"Now the data says that in AQI the level of Particulate matter (PM) 10 is decreasing and that of PM2.5 is increasing. This means that pollution caused by vehicles and biomass burning is increasing. For this, the 'Red Light on, Gaadi off' campaign has been started since yesterday," the Delhi Minister said.
"This campaign started from the Income Tax Office (ITO) on Thursday. It will be conducted at Barakhamba Road and other locations in the city. On November 2, this campaign will be held in 70 Assembly constituencies in Delhi. On November 3, the campaign will be promoted in schools via eco clubs," he added.
Rai said that through this campaign, they are trying to control the unnecessary burning of fuel and the spreading of pollution in the national capital.
Meanwhile, the overall air quality in Delhi continued to remain in the 'Poor' category with the Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 249 on Friday morning, as per the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR)-India.
As per the latest data from SAFAR, the air quality around Delhi University was recorded at 307 (Very Poor) in the morning hours today while the IIT area in New Delhi was at 273, and that in Lodhi Road was recorded at 218 either of which falls in the 'Poor' category.
Further, according to the data, Noida recorded an AQI of 208 (Poor) and Gurugram 252 (Poor).
India Meteorological Department in a statement on Delhi's AQI forecasted predominant surface wind likely from Northwest/Northeast directions in Delhi with wind speed 04-16 kmph, resulting in mainly clear sky and mist in the morning on October 27, Friday.
To mitigate pollution, water was sprinkled through an anti-smog gun in the Anand Vihar area on Thursday.
The second phase of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) was implemented in Delhi to reduce the effect of increased pollution.
Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) is a set of guidelines and measures implemented to combat air pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR) of India, which includes Delhi and its surrounding areas.
