India’s Environment, Forests and Climate Change Minister Prakash Javedekar has announced that 60-70 pollution-causing power plants would be identified and closed in the next two years as he discussed steps taken by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to tackle serious pollution.
Launching a social media connection with people, he made the announcement in a question and answer session on Facebook.
The minister said that some power plants in Delhi-NCR had already been shut down.
Mr Javadekar said mainly five to six aspects contributed to the pollution, traffic, industry, garbage, dust, stubble burning and geographical factors.
Listing the steps taken by the Modi government, he said that the use of low polluting BS-VI fuel reduced pollution by 25-60 per cent, and a key step had been taken to promote BS-VI fuel.
He also referred to the efforts to tackle the problem of pollution in the national capital through public transport services.
“In 2014, while 250,000-300,000 people used to travel by Metro in Delhi and NCR, today 450,000-500,000 people commute by Metro.
“This is a big achievement. The construction of Eastern-Western Peripheral Expressway has also taken care of around 60,000 pollution causing vehicles that used to pass through Delhi.
“Now, the metro and e-buses facilities are being increased in all cities.”
The Minister said during the Facebook Live interaction that in 2015, the Modi government launched the National Air Quality Index for the first time.
From 2016, the monitoring of air quality began.
“In the year 2016, while there were 250 days of bad air, the count today has come down to 180.”
Mr Javadekar said the cause of pollution in Delhi-NCR is also due to geographical factors.
“Due to slow air-flow, the problem of pollution is more prevelent in Delhi. The pollution reduces whenever the wind blows,” he said.
He also said the Modi government had framed new rules for construction and demolition management in 2016 in Delhi to manage pollution.
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