Delhi govt’s measures to tackle pollution are too little too late: Greenpeace -Governance Now

Delhi govt’s measures to tackle pollution are too little too late: Greenpeace

Ensuring the right to clean air requires a systematic national action plan with timelines, as well as measures to reduce pollution emissions from all key sectors, including power generation, industry, transport and agriculture

GN Bureau | November 7, 2016

#environment #clean air #gas chamber #crop burning #smog #Delhi choke #Delhi pollution #Delhi air #air pollution

As the Delhi government announced emergency measures to help citizens cope with the public health crisis of hazardous air pollution levels, Greenpeace India has reiterated the central demands of its ‘Clean Air Nation’ campaign:

A stronger national air quality index (NAQI) including health advisories and alert system for closure of polluting sources and industries to be triggered automatically.
Comprehensive and systematic national clean air action plan including all the sources of pollution i.e., biomass burning, industry, thermal power plants, transport, construction and demolition activities and fugitive dust emissions, etc.
Coordinated efforts between central and state governments.
Set targets for reducing inter-state pollution, including a compliance plan for meeting the new thermal power plant emission standards.
A set deadline for meeting the national air quality standards e.g. 5-year interim targets for reducing pollution levels in each state and city that doesn't currently comply.

“The measures announced by the Delhi government may bring some relief to some citizens, but this is frankly too little too late, and fails to address the problem in its entirety,” said Sunil Dahiya, Greenpeace India campaigner, adding, “Over the last 18 months, thousands of Greenpeace supporters have joined us in calling for a national action plan, and for infrastructure improvements. For instance, an effective NAQI would automatically trigger the issuing of a health advisory and the resultant closure of schools and offices, etc., instead of these measures only being announced after a series of consultations and cabinet meetings. Even now, the problem is really only being discussed in post-Diwali Delhi terms; the levels may have peaked this week, but they have been consistently high for months now. And although shutting down the Badarpur Thermal Power Plant is a welcome first move, how about applying the same logic to the other plants, and the pollution affecting the rest of the Indo-Gangetic Plain region? ”

Greenpeace India has previously released graphs and satellite imagery revealing how clearly pollution hotspots are mapped to thermal power plants all across the Indo-Gangetic plain, and a status assessment of the NAQI that illustrated a simple fact: Tackling India’s air pollution crisis and ensuring the right to clean air for all Indians requires an ambitious and systematic national action plan with targets and timelines, as well as measures to reduce air pollution emissions from all key polluting sectors, including power generation, industry, transport and agriculture.

“Air pollution has become an issue of life and death for our people. It is a matter of survival, each one of us needs to stand up and take a role. Pollution has to be the priority issue for all governments - polluted air does not recognise political boundaries of states and cities you live on, so neither must our efforts to clean it up,” added Umendra Dutt of Kheti Virasat Manch. “We need a comprehensive action plan to clean up the air across all our states: be it Haryana, Punjab or Bihar. Indeed, even the plan to clean up the air in the region can only really work if it includes action taken in all states.”

Read: IIT study has all answers to Delhi’s pollution woes

Comments

Other News

Elections 2024: 1,351 candidates in fray for Phase 3

As many as 1,351 candidates from 12 states /UTs are contesting elections in Phase 3 of Lok Sabha Elections 2024. The number includes eight contesting candidates for the adjourned poll in 29-Betul (ST) PC of Madhya Pradesh. Additionally, one candidate from Surat PC in Gujarat has been elected unopp

2023-24 net direct tax collections exceed budget estimates by 7.40%

The provisional figures of direct tax collections for the financial year 2023-24 show that net collections are at Rs. 19.58 lakh crore, 17.70% more than Rs. 16.64 lakh crore in 2022-23. The Budget Estimates (BE) for Direct Tax revenue in the Union Budget for FY 2023-24 were fixed at Rs. 18.

‘World’s biggest festival of democracy’ begins

The much-awaited General Elections of 2024, billed as the world’s biggest festival of democracy, began on Friday with Phase 1 of polling in 102 Parliamentary Constituencies (the highest among all seven phases) in 21 States/ UTs and 92 Assembly Constituencies in the State Assembly Elections in Arunach

A sustainability warrior’s heartfelt stories of life’s fleeting moments

Fit In, Stand Out, Walk: Stories from a Pushed Away Hill By Shailini Sheth Amin Notion Press, Rs 399

What EU’s AI Act means for the world

The recent European Union (EU) policy on artificial intelligence (AI) will be a game-changer and likely to become the de-facto standard not only for the conduct of businesses but also for the way consumers think about AI tools. Governments across the globe have been grappling with the rapid rise of AI tool

Indian Railways celebrates 171 years of its pioneering journey

The Indian Railways is celebrating 171 glorious years of its existence. Going back in time, the first train in India (and Asia) ran between Mumbai and Thane on April 16, 1853. It was flagged off from Boribunder (where CSMT stands today). As the years passed, the Great Indian Peninsula Railway which ran the