The government will begin a two-week awareness campaign to sensitise people in the city about the need to do more to improve the quality of air in the Capital.
Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan said that starting from February 10, the Centre will launch a joint campaign for two weeks, with Delhi government, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and other municipal agencies.
Sensitising public
“The campaign seeks to sensitise ground-level functionaries and general public to enforce the habit of environmental protection”, the Minister said, according to a press statement by the Environment Ministry.
Earlier in the day, Dr. Vardhan chaired a meeting on mitigation of air pollution, where he emphasised that there would be a team of 70 officers, led jointly by one officer each from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and one officer from the Delhi government.
They would be assisted by officials from the CPCB, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee and respective municipal corporations.
Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), shopkeeper associations and the civil society would be encouraged to become a part of these teams and participate in the campaign for mitigation of pollution.
The teams will be provided with checklists so that there is focussed activity on mitigation of pollution, including effective measures for dust mitigation, solid waste management and prevention of garbage burning.
The announcement comes even as Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had said on Wednesday that decrease in particulate matter (PM) levels in 2017, compared to 2016, showed that there was growing awareness among residents about air pollution.
Terming this as “good news” for the Capital, Mr. Sisodia, however, added that more needed to be done.
PM levels dipping
The average PM10 level reduced from 310 micrograms per cubic metre (ug/m3) in 2016 to 260 ug/m3 in 2017. The level of PM2.5 decreased from 120 ug/m3 in 2016 to 101 ug/m3 in 2017.
