Delhi Government to start 'Red light on, Gaadi off' campaign to combat pollution

New Delhi [India], October 26 : Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Thursday slammed the leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for making illogical statements over the allegations that the DPCC chairman stopped the Delhi Government Real-time Source Apportionment Study.
"People of the BJP give statements as if they do not know anything about it. Yesterday, several illogical statements came from BJP leaders. One of the leaders said that when the study stopped in February, Gopal Rai was saying that pollution had decreased. Let me inform them that the process to stop the study began in February, but it actually ended in October," Rai said.
"I think they either do not listen or just read out text written by someone else. Another leader said that how can an officer allocate funds beyond what is mentioned in the budget? It is already mentioned in the budget that Rs 12 crore is allocated for this," the Delhi Minister added.
When asked about the increased pollution in the national capital with the overall air quality recorded on Thursday morning in the 'poor' category, Gopal Rai said that a 'Red Light on, Gaadi Off' campaign will be used to curb air pollution.
"One of the major causes of pollution in the national capital is traffic. To reduce the overall pollution in Delhi, we've had to decrease the vehicle pollution. Thus, we are introducing a 'Red Light on, Gaadi Off' campaign to create awareness among the public to curb vehicle pollution," Rai told ANI.
"In the next phase of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), eco-friendly bus service will be started. The work to introduce this bus service has already begun," the Delhi Minister added.
'Red Light on, Gaadi Off' campaign encourages drivers to switch off their engines while waiting at traffic signals and is aimed at reducing pollution caused by idling vehicles at red lights.
Meanwhile, the overall air quality in the national capital on Thursday morning was recorded in the 'poor' category, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) at 256, as per SAFAR-India.
To mitigate pollution, water was sprinkled through an anti-smog gun in the Anand Vihar area, as according to the data from the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the air quality in Delhi stands in the 'poor' category.
As per the latest data from SAFAR, the air quality around Delhi University was recorded at 316 (very poor) in the morning hours today.
Noida recorded an AQI of 269 (poor) and Gurugram 176 (moderate).
As stubble burning continues in parts of Punjab and Haryana, air quality in the national capital has worsened in the past few days. According to data, over 2,500 cases of stubble burning have been reported this year so far. However, farm fire numbers are better than those of the previous two years.