To address the growing menace of pollution in the national capital, Delhi, the state government has issued a “booster fund of Rs 500 crore” to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), said Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, on Tuesday.
“The Delhi government has given a booster fund of Rs 500 crore to the MCD and has also arranged for a regular fund of Rs 300 crore every year. This will give new strength to pollution control and waste management in Delhi. New modern cleaning machines will arrive, and effective work will be done to control dust-related pollution,” the CM said on her social media post X*.
“This step is a strong effort in the direction of building a clean, healthy, and better Delhi,” she added.
Recently, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav reviewed Delhi’s Air Pollution Action Plan with Delhi CM Gupta. He chaired a high-level meeting here. During the meeting, Yadav highlighted the need for smart traffic management, particularly at 62 identified congestion hotspots, to ensure smoother traffic flow.
The Central Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change informed that the Central Pollution Control Board has issued notices to 88 units that have not installed Online Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems, with closure action to commence from the 23rd of this month.
Emphasising vehicular pollution, the minister stressed that strict action should be taken against polluting vehicles, including a special registration drive, the installation of Automatic Number Plate recognition systems at border entry points, and the exploration of staggered office timings to reduce peak-hour congestion.
He also directed that action must be taken against illegally operating and non-conforming units, including sealing where required. Measures such as incentivising electric vehicles, accelerating the expansion of charging infrastructure, implementing congestion charges, smart parking management, and a uniform vehicle registration policy for the NCR were also discussed during the meeting.
Air pollution has been a major concern in the National Capital Region (NCR), with opposition parties attacking the government every now and then.