State environment ministers to meet on Oct 1 to review 2016 air pollution plans: Javadekar

Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday informed that the Environment ministers of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan will meet on October 1 to review air pollution management plans decided in 2016. The meeting will also be attended by state pollution control boards, municipal corporations and various other urban bodies. The meeting comes with the issue of stubble burning in the backdrop which causes immense air pollution yearly in the northern states of India. 

“We came up with short term, medium term and long-term plans in 2016. We plan to review implementation of those plans and assess preparedness for this winter,” Prakash Javadekar said on Tuesday.

Apprising of Centre's steps to tackle pollution, Javadekar added that the two meetings with the northwestern states were also held in the past month. He highlighted that the Centre had accepted the air pollution problem and brought out policies to deal with it in the past four years. 

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“The PM brought out the national air quality index (NAQI) so that people can easily understand pollution levels. Badarpur power plant was shut down, the Sonepat thermal power plant was also phased out, we built the peripheral expressway which was pending for 15 years. The expressway ensured that 60,000 trucks which passed through Delhi polluting it to reach other states could bypass Delhi; BS VI emission standards have been introduced and BS VI fuel is also available," Javadekar said. 

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"We introduced waste management rules 2016 which includes rules for construction and demolition waste, 3000 industries in the national capital region (NCR) have got piped gas supply. So we are working on all fronts,” he added. 

Delhi CM writes to Javadekar 

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written to Union Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change Prakash Javadekar over the issue of stubble burning. Apprising the Union Minister of the yearly issue, Kejriwal informed that the Indian Agricultural Research Institue (IARI) scientists have developed a solution to tackle pollution caused by stubble burning. The Delhi CM added that scientists have developed a chemical which when sprayed on stubble will be converted to compost. 

"The scientists are saying that the germs in-ground die due to the burning of stubble. Due to which the land is deprived of its crop-growing abilities. But if the mentioned chemical is used then the stubble can be converted into a compost which can then be used as a fertilizer and the land will be rich of nutrients," Kejriwal wrote in his letter to Javadekar. 

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