Environment Ministry to hold review and preparation meeting regarding air pollution, stubble burning on Oct 1

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) will conduct a virtual meeting on October 1 on the issue related to air pollution and stubble burning.

State Environment Ministers of Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, Environment Secretaries and Pollution Control Boards will participate in the meeting along with corporations, Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC).

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday said, "We started working to reduce pollution level since 2016. It is not limited to Delhi corporation limit or state limit. This is an airshed which includes Faridabad, Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad and parts of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan."

On September 26, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote to Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on the issue related to stubble burning. The Chief Minister specifically mentioned about the usage of a technology developed by ICAR-Indian Agriculture Research Institute in Delhi and nearby States.

"There will also be a review meeting on what work they did in the last two years. The states and pollution control agencies would plan accordingly," said Javadekar.

Since 2016, there are short, medium and long term plans in existence. Based on these plans, work will be reviewed during this meeting.

Starting from October 15, as many as 50 teams of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) start visiting the spots every year and submit their suggestions on pollution control.

The Cabinet secretary, Principal secretary, Advisor to PMO conducted separate meetings on air pollution in their own capacity. Whereas the Environment Secretary has conducted two separate meetings, the CPCB has conducted four meetings regarding the same issue.

On September 22, Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA), the SC mandated body also wrote to Chief Secretaries of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to take stock of the situation and take action after early burning of crop residue was brought to their notice.

( With inputs from ANI )