15-point winter action plan in full swing to curb pollution: Gopal Rai

As the overall air quality in Delhi continues to remain in the ‘Poor’ category with the Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 249 on Friday morning as per the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR)-India. Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said that a 15-point winter action plan is being implemented one by one to curb pollution.

“Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had earlier announced a 15-point winter action plan to curb the pollution caused by vehicles, biomass burning, dust, etc. Now this winter action plan is being implemented on the ground one by one to reduce pollution in the national capital,” Rai told ANI.

The Delhi Minister said that since one of the major causes of pollution is vehicles, they have started the ‘Red Light on, Gaadi off’ campaign on Thursday.

“Now the data says that in AQI, the level of particulate matter (PM) 10 is decreasing and that of PM2.5 is increasing. This means that pollution caused by vehicles and biomass burning is increasing. For this, the ‘Red Light on, Gaadi off’ campaign has been started since yesterday,” the Delhi Minister said.

“This campaign started from the Income Tax Office (ITO) on Thursday. It will be conducted at Barakhamba Road and other locations in the city. On November 2, this campaign will be held in 70 Assembly constituencies in Delhi. On November 3, the campaign will be promoted in schools via eco clubs,” he added.

Rai said that through this campaign, they are trying to control the unnecessary burning of fuel and the spreading of pollution in the national capital.