The Centre should consider air pollution in the national capital as "top priority" which should be resolved permanently and not leave the issue solely to the Delhi government, said Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot as Delhi saw a three-year high peak in air pollution on Sunday.
Stating the "pollution is now heading towards Rajasthan" after engulfing the rest of the northern states, Gehlot said, "If the national capital becomes a gas chamber, you can imagine what would happen. I was in Delhi for two days. I felt what the people are going through there (in Delhi). The pollution is now heading towards Rajasthan, so this should be a matter of concern for us too."
He continued, "We request the Centre to not simply leave the matter up to Delhi government. This matter should be a top priority, and be resolved permanently. This year the pollution in Delhi has crossed all limits."
Gehlot said that closing schools and factories was not going to be enough to tackle the severe situation.
Air pollution levels in the national capital escalated to hazardous and visibility dropped significantly as a thick blanket of smog engulfed several parts of the city despite mild showers on Sunday.
Notably, for the first time in this season, the Air Quality Index (AQI) docked as high as 625 at 10 am yesterday. An AQI between 0-50 is considered "good", 51-100 "satisfactory", 101-200 "moderate", 201-300 "poor", 301-400 "very poor", and 401-500 "severe". Above 500 is "severe-plus emergency" category.
Looking at the worsening air quality in the national capital, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government has brought back its Odd-Even scheme from today. It will go on till November 15.
The Centre seems to have swung in action to do damage control after Delhi almost choked under a thick blanket of smog on Sunday.
With air pollution levels increasing to ‘severe levels’ in the National Capital region and Air Quality Index measuring an alarming 494 on Sunday, at least 37 flights were diverted between 9 am and 1 pm because of poor visibility. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) finally called a review meeting on Sunday to deal with air pollution in Delhi and its surrounding areas.
The principal secretary to the prime minister, P K Mishra, chaired the high-level meeting on Sunday, where it was decided that Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba would monitor the situation with the governments of Delhi, Haryana and Punjab on a daily basis.
Mishra reviewed the situation arising out of burning of stubble and wastes, construction activities, and industrial and vehicular pollution in the National Capital Region and other parts of north India. Senior officials from Punjab, Haryana and Delhi also joined the meeting through video-conferencing.
The chief secretaries of these states have been asked to monitor the situation in various districts of their respective state round the clock.
Official sources later said about 300 teams are in the field in Delhi to reduce air pollution and necessary machinery for this work has been distributed in the states.
Kejriwal has also called on all neighbouring states and the Centre to "sit together" and deliberate on solving the pollution caused in Delhi due to stubble burning.
(With inputs from ANI)
