Had the NGT orders from 2014 onwards and Supreme Court ruling of 2018 been acted upon in time, we wouldn’t have reached this stage, said Maninder Singh Sirsa.
Delhi Environment Minister Maninder Singh Sirsa on Wednesday alleged that the city’s air pollution crisis and the subsequent action against end-of-life vehicle are the result of the previous AAP government’s prolonged inaction.
Addressing a joint press conference here, the environment minister and transport minister Pankaj Kumar Singh stated, “The NGT had, as early as 2014, directed the deregistration and ban of vehicles older than 15 years (petrol) and 10 years (diesel) in Delhi due to rising pollution levels.”
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They alleged that the orders were repeatedly ignored by the then AAP-led state government as a result of which pollution in the city worsened and the courts had to repeatedly intervene in the matter, in 2015, 2016, and 2018.
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Had the NGT orders from 2014 onwards and Supreme Court ruling of 2018 been acted upon in time, we wouldn’t have reached this stage, they added.
According to Sirsa, unlike other metros like Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai or Bengaluru, such harsh vehicular restrictions became necessary only in Delhi.
“The NGT even noted that AAP’s odd-even schemes failed to improve Delhi’s air quality. What we are dealing with now is a legacy of negligence,” he said.
The environment minister said the then AAP government neither safeguarded public health nor protected the interests of Delhi’s vehicle owners. “When AQI levels refused to drop and pollution worsened year after year, the courts had to step in and enforce a blanket ban on such vehicles,” Sirsa said.
He announced that the Delhi government would soon approach the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to apprise it of all the measures being taken by the present government to tackle pollution in the city.
He informed that the Rekha Gupta-led government is taking several measures to combat pollution that include installation of anti-smog guns on high-rise buildings, repairing roads, enforcing dust control measures, actively working toward clearing all garbage mountains by the end of 2027 and several others.
“We are fighting this battle with full force and standing shoulder-to -shoulder with the people of Delhi,” Sirsa asserted.
He emphasized that Delhi’s pollution problem is unlike any other part of the country, and the government will present all facts before the CAQM, regarding steps taken and how enforcement is being implemented.
Sirsa said It is unfair to the people of Delhi who are forced to pay the price of the alleged failures of the then AAP government when they deserve to be treated on par with those in any other state.
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