LG Chairs a high level meeting to discuss serious condition of Air Pollution in Delhi

· LG Chairs a high level meeting to discuss serious condition of Air Pollution in Delhi

· LG directs agencies to ensure that immediate measures required to mitigate Air Pollution in Delhi are strictly implemented; Delhi Police and Municipal Corporations to strictly implement the action plan

· Deregistration of 15 year old diesel vehicles start from today

· MCD asked to take all measures to control fire in Bhalaswa

· Ban on construction/demolition activities from 7th to 14th November

· Overloaded trucks and non-destined trucks not to be allowed in Delhi

· Polluting industries running in NCT of Delhi to be shut down

· Ban on crackers in Delhi, other than religious functions

Lt Governor Shri Najeeb Jung today chaired a meeting at Raj Niwas to discuss the serious condition of Air Pollution in Delhi and directed all concerned agencies to ensure that immediate measures required to mitigate Air Pollution in Delhi are strictly implemented.

The meeting was attended by Hon’ble Chief Minister Sh. Arvind Kejriwal; Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister Sh. Manish Sisodia; Hon’ble Minister of PWD Sh. Satyendra Jain; Hon’ble Minister of Environment & Forest Sh. Imran Hussain; Jt. Secretary (Ministry of Environment & Forest & CC), GOI; Chief Secretary, GNCTD; Pr. Secretary (Home & Finance), GNCTD; Commissioner of Police, Delhi; Vice Chairman, DDA; Spl. Commissioner (Traffic), Delhi Police; Chairman (New Delhi Municipal Corporation), Commissioners/Addl. Commissioners from all 3 Municipal Corporations, Secretary (PWD), GNCTD; Commissioner (Transport), GNCTD; Secretary (Environment & Forest), GNCTD; Secretary (Power), GNCTD; Secretary (Revenue)-cum-Divisional Commissioner, GNCTD; Managing Director (DMRC); Spl. Secy. (Urban Development), GNCTD; CEO (DUSIB), Member (Delhi Jal Board); Member Secretary (CPCB) and Member Secretary (DPCC). Besides, environmental experts, such as Sunita Narain and Anumita Roy from Centre for Science and Environment and Prof Manju Mohan from IIT Delhi too participated in the meeting.

At the outset, Lt. Governor emphasized the need to take extraordinary measures and immediate steps to control Air Pollution in Delhi, which has got compounded because of several factors such as prevailing Meteorological Conditions, recent use of Fire Crackers and Agricultural Crop Burning etc. He said all concerned must come together on a war footing and he assigned responsibilities to various agencies for strict implementation of decisions taken at the meeting.

Apart from the immediate steps taken by the Delhi Government yesterday, the Lt. Governor emphasized that the following must be implemented without any delay:

· Deregistration of 15 year old diesel vehicles to start from today: Directions have been issued to all Registering Authorities/MLOs to start deregistration of diesel vehicles which are more than 15 years old in a phased manner. This will bring about a reduction of 2 lakhs diesel vehicles on the roads in Delhi.

· MCD has been asked to take all measures to control fire in landfill sites, particularly Bhalaswa. They shall be doing so by using PWD construction/demolition malba and sludge generated by water treatment plants of DJB, if required.

· Strict enforcement of ban on construction/demolition activities from 7th to 14th November 2016. Municipal Authorities and Delhi Police to ensure its strict implementation and prosecute violators. The Delhi Govt. shall be issuing advertisements to this effect.

· Stopping entry, by Transport Department and Delhi Police, of overloaded trucks and non-destined trucks in Delhi, particularly those entering from Rajasthan, UP, Haryana etc with immediate effect. In two days, the engineers will also work out an engineering solution to turn away overloaded and non-destined trucks from Delhi.

· Transport Department and Delhi Police to robustly check PUC certificates and take strictest action against violators. Smoke meters to be installed at all borders.

· Strict action against polluting industries running in NCT of Delhi particularly in non-conforming areas. DMCs and Delhi Police to jointly launch operations to shut down all such industries.

· Strict enforcement, including penalization, for burning dry leaves/garbage/tyres/rubber/plastic etc in open. Concerned agencies will intensify the drive and take action against violators. A roster of officers in charge shall be drawn out and action against officers found negligent during enforcement shall be initiated.

· Ban on crackers in Delhi, including marriages etc, other than religious functions.

The Lt Governor said that only when the government and citizens of Delhi synergize their efforts can the current state of air pollution in Delhi be brought down.

The Lt. Governor shall be reviewing the situation again on 15th November 2016 at 3 PM in Raj Niwas.