New Delhi, Jul 24 (PTI) Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Friday held a meeting with Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and other officials to assess the progress of ongoing measures aimed at improving air quality in Delhi-NCR.
During the meeting, Yadav stressed the need for accelerated implementation, stronger inter-agency coordination and strict enforcement to ensure a substantial reduction in pollution levels before the onset of the winter season.
“The window before the winter season must be fully utilised to implement pollution control measures in mission mode. Timely execution, effective coordination and strict enforcement will be critical to achieving visible improvements in Delhi-NCR’s air quality,” he said.
The environment minister
suggested several measures to be taken in the following months. For instance, he said that the deployment of electric buses across the NCR municipal corporations in Haryana should be expedited, noting significant gaps in the existing fleet.
Yadav also urged that end-to-end paving and greening of roads with local species shrubs/ grasses during monsoons be undertaken, with attention on pothole identification and repair, construction of footpaths and pavements, roadside greening and deep cleaning of roads.
Reviewing the status of electric mobility, the environment minister stressed that deployment of electric buses across the NCR municipal corporations in Haryana should be expedited.
To help tackle the issue of stubble burning, he asked the Haryana government to bridge gaps in procurement of crop residue management (CRM) machinery and accelerate the establishment of custom hiring centres.
These centres rent CRM machines, such as super seeders, to farmers at government-prescribed rates.
Highlighting the importance of public participation and coordinated institutional action, Yadav said, “Air pollution can be effectively tackled only through a ‘whole of government’ and ‘whole of society’ approach.” PTI ALC KSS KSS
