Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Friday said Delhi has the largest green cover among all metropolitan cities in the country, with forests and trees covering 23.6% of the Capital as of 2021 compared to 20% green cover in 2014 when the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) first came to power.
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Addressing the Assembly on the first day of the winter session, Mr. Rai said pollution levels in the city had come down due to the Delhi government’s sustained efforts. The Minister made the statement in response to a question by AAP’s Trilokpuri MLA Rohit Kumar on the number of trees planted in the city and the pollution levels over the past five years.
Fall in pollutant levels
According to the ‘India State of Forest Report 2021’ published by the Forest Survey of India, the city’s green cover increased from 10.2% in 2001 to 23.06% in 2021, the Minister said.
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Elaborating on air pollution, a problem the city grapples with each winter, Mr. Rai said there has been a 31% drop on average in the levels of pollutants PM10 and PM2.5 since AAP formed the government.
Citing a report, he said, “In 2014, the yearly average level of PM10 stood at 324... [it] stood at 223 in 2022 through the government’s efforts. The PM2.5 level, which was 149 in 2014, went down to 103 in 2022.”
‘Good’ air days rise
The Minister also said that the city has over the years experienced more days with ‘good’ air quality than those with ‘poor’ air quality.
“The Chief Minister promised the people during the last [Assembly] election that in five years, two crore new trees will be planted. That target has been met in just four years,” Mr. Rai said, adding that the government’s plantation drive will be intensified over the next year.
An AQI reading between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, and 201 and 300 ‘poor’.