Indian Government Assures More Efforts To Reduce Pollution In Delhi

By M.Santhiran NEW DELHI, Aug 14 (Bernama) -- With Delhi taking over Beijing as the most polluted city in the world, the Indian central government assured nearly 22 million Delhiites that consistent efforts are being made to address the issue of air pollution in Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR). The Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar, in a statement, said his ministry adopted a consultative and cooperative approach to tackle the air pollution in and around Delhi. "The minister has taken three review meetings with the environment ministers of Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and with the concerned senior officers of municipal bodies and police from these states. "The first meeting was held on April 6, 2015 at Vigyan Bhawan, while the second meeting was held on April 13, 2015 at Paryavaran Bhawan. The third meeting was held on July 24, 2015 at Parliament House," he said. He said the pro-active approach adopted by the ministry got a positive response from the states. Prakash said at the meeting held on July 24, it was decided that all the states concerned would come out with an annual plan of initiatives to prevent air pollution and also come out with a long-term plan. "As pollution cannot be tackled only through government efforts, the centre will soon launch a massive people-oriented awareness campaign to check air pollution," he said. Recently the ministry informed the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the parliament that air pollution in Delhi was killing around 80 people everyday in a study carried out by an international body. In related development, Indian Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said the government was considering to extend an incentive of up to 150,000 rupees (about US$2,300) on surrender of over ten-year-old vehicles to check pollution and address road safety concerns in major cities. -- BERNAMA