Delhi air pollution: Govt's 7 specific action plans in the works to tackle poor AQI

The Delhi government is intensifying its efforts to combat pollution across seven key domains. Plans include developing paved and green pathways, constructing walkways, and creating open spaces along roads, TOI reported.

This strategy follows a central government meeting in October, where state governments were urged to reduce pollution.

Due to smoke from Diwali firecrackers over the weekend, the city's air quality index dropped into the “severe” category as reported by SAFAR, India’s environmental monitoring agency.

Many areas of the capital recorded levels of particulate matter seven times higher than the World Health Organization's safety limit.

The plan involves managing construction and demolition waste, handling daily municipal solid waste efficiently, and addressing legacy waste issues. The government also aims to expedite the acquisition of cleaner public transport and remove 50 lakh old vehicles.

To recycle 100% of construction and demolition waste by next year, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is working on its fifth processing unit in Tehkhand, with a capacity to recycle 1,000 tonnes per day.

The government is exploring options to construct more green walkways in the city. To tackle legacy waste, MCD plans to biomine an additional 15 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of waste at Okhla landfill soon. Additionally, MCD intends to biomine 30 lakh MT of waste each from Ghazipur and Bhalswa landfills.

In the first phase that began in 2019 following a directive by the National Green Tribunal, biomining, a process involving excavation, treatment, segregation, and utilization of aged municipal solid waste, was initiated at three locations.

The government has expedited the process of purchasing new buses, aiming for 10,500 buses by next year, with 80% being electric. The current number of buses in Delhi is around 7,600, managed by the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Limited (DIMTS) and monitored by the government.

The Delhi Transport Department has also started a drive to impound overage vehicles, impounding more than 1,200 vehicles in a recent drive.

Moreover, a scheme encourages people to scrap old vehicles by offering a tax rebate of 10-20% when buying new vehicles.

(With inputs from TOI)