Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, P.K. Mishra, chaired a high-level task force meeting on Friday to review measures to control air pollution in Delhi and neighbouring north Indian States ahead of winter, when the region struggles with smog, poor visibility, and a drop in air quality.
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Mr. Mishra called for strict implementation of the existing Graded Response Action Plan, a set of emergency measures to reduce air pollution.
He also instructed the Chief Secretaries of Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh to monitor the incidents of stubble burning closely and asked the authorities to promote in-situ management of paddy stubble through crop residue management machines and bio-decomposers. Air pollution spikes in the national capital and the neighbouring States during winter, mainly due to meteorological factors and pollution from stubble burning.
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During the meeting, the Principal Secretary stressed on the need for a multi-pronged approach comprising several measures, such as expanding the supply of natural gas in the Delhi-NCR by March 2024.
During the meeting, the chairman of the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas said that industries in the NCR were adopting cleaner fuels and that out of 240 industrial areas, as many as 211 have already been provided with CNG connections.
Meanwhile, the Delhi government on Friday started spraying bio-decomposer on farmland in the city to curb the practice of stubble burning as part of its 15-point winter action plan announced last month.
The bio-decomposer is a microbial liquid spray which, when sprayed onto paddy stubble, breaks it down in a way that can be easily absorbed into the soil, whereby farmers then do not need to burn the stubble.
Environment Minister Gopal Rai said the government aims to spray the bio-decomposer over 5,000 acres of paddy fields.