Delhi Environment Minister Kailash Gahlot on Monday claimed that the Environment Ministers of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan did not participate in a meeting called by the Centre to prepare a roadmap to contain air pollution.
Mr. Gahlot also wrote letters to Union Minister Prakash Javadekar and the Chief Ministers of Haryana and Punjab over this issue.
“This lax approach — despite strict directions from the Supreme Court and even after summoning the Chief Secretaries of the respective States by the apex court — will not bring positive results in the efforts to contain pollution,” said Mr. Gahlot on Monday.
In the letter written to Mr. Javadekar, the Minister said that distribution of machines required for in-situ management of crop residue is taking place at a “tardy pace” in the districts of neighbouring States.
Stubble burning
Adding that stubble burning in neighbouring States was a major cause of pollution, Mr. Gahlot wrote: “It is, therefore, important that strict timelines are laid down for distribution of machines to all the farmers in the neighbouring States and responsibility be fixed for not adhering to timelines.”
The Minister also said that the there were no officials from the municipal corporations of Delhi and the Delhi Development Authority present at the meeting.
“Dust originating from roads, particularly from unpaved roads, is one of the major sources of pollution in Delhi. Mostly, these roads fall under the jurisdiction of the municipal corporations. The patches of empty land that create dust fall under the DDA. Neither municipal commissioners nor DDA officials were present in the meeting. Without the cooperation of such agencies, dust sources and garbage that causes pollution cannot be controlled. It is unfortunate that such a serious issue has been neglected by these agencies,” said Mr. Gahlot.
The Minister added that it was unfortunate that cases of stubble burning are increasing “despite the directions of the Supreme Court to the officials — starting from Chief Secretaries to district magistrates, gram panchayat officials”.
