New Delhi. Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Sunday said that despite the Dussehra festival in the national capital, people are breathing clean air. He said that the number of days with ‘good’, ‘satisfactory’ and ‘moderate’ air quality is increasing, which is a sign of improvement in pollution management somewhere.
Rai also said that Delhi’s air quality index remained out of the ‘poor’ category after Dussehra, although according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the city’s air quality stood at 225 at 12 noon. . Rai said at a press conference here that every year after Dussehra, the air quality was usually recorded in the ‘poor’ category but this year the air in Delhi remained clean. He appealed to the Central Government to help the Delhi Government in curbing the rising pollution levels in the capital in view of the winter season.
The Environment Minister said that in the last two years, ‘good’, ‘satisfactory’ or ‘moderate’ air quality has been recorded in Delhi for 200 days between January and October 12, whereas in 2016 this happened only for 109 days. Rai said, “Achieving good air quality for 200 days is a big achievement for the people of Delhi.”
He said, “Ever since the Arvind Kejriwal government came to power, awareness among Delhiites has increased significantly. “People have now become more conscious about pollution, adopting electric vehicles, planting trees and reducing garbage burning.” AQI 155 was recorded in Delhi on Saturday, the day of Dussehra, which falls in the ‘moderate’ category.
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 to 100 is “satisfactory”, 101 to 200 is “moderate”, 201 to 300 is “poor”, 301 to 400 is “very poor”. ” and between 401 and 500 is considered “severe”. Rai also criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for claiming that pollution levels were worsening in Delhi, and asked it to look into the data.
He also said that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government is considering the use of artificial rainfall as an emergency measure to reduce pollutants. Rai said that on August 30, he had written a letter to Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav requesting a joint meeting to resolve air quality issues, but he has not received any response yet. He told that on October 10, he had sent another letter to the Centre.
Rai encouraged Delhi residents to actively participate in the fight against pollution by reporting dust pollution and other violations through the ‘Green Delhi App’. He said, “We need public support to keep moving forward. “If we work together, we can further increase the number of days with good air quality and make Delhi a cleaner, healthier place to live.”