Work from home or use shared transport to reduce vehicular emissions: Gopal Rai appeals to Delhiites

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Wednesday appealed to city residents to preferably work from home or use shared transport to reduce vehicular emissions a major contributor to air pollution in the national capitalHe also said that vehicular emissions account for 51 per cent of the air pollution generated locally If possible please share a ride to work or work from home This is how we can reduce the share of vehicular emissions in Delhis air pollution he said during a press conferenceRai asked people to refrain from using coal or firewood for heating purposes and to provide electric heaters to security staff to avoid open burning during wintersWe have to reduce our share of pollution We have to do everything we can We cannot sit idle waiting for others to act the minister saidHe said people should avoid bursting firecrackersEmission from even one firecracker can cause great harm in such unfavourable meteorological conditions he saidAlso Read BJPs ideology favours rising air pollution Delhi minister Gopal RaiRai also asked people to take pictures if they find anyone violating the ban on construction work and upload them on Green Delhi application for necessary actionWith pollution levels worsening the Commission for Air Quality Management CAQM had on Saturday directed authorities to impose a ban on construction and demolition activities in DelhiNCR except in essential projects and other curbs under stage three of the Graded Response Action plan GRAPGRAP first implemented in 2017 is a set of antiair pollution measures followed in the national capital and its vicinity according to the severity of the situationThe Delhi government had on Tuesday issued a notice to stop work at the BJP headquarters here and imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on private firm Larsen amp Toubro Ltd for violating the ban on construction and demolition workRai said the Delhi government will run a special drive at the 13 pollution hotspots in Delhi including Narela Anand Vihar Mundka Dwarka Punjabi Bagh among othersFire tenders will be deployed at these places to sprinkle water he saidCiting a study conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment Rai said local sources account for 31 per cent of the air pollution in Delhi 545 per cent comes from other areas in the National Capital Region and the rest is due to biomass burningThe air pollution problem cannot be resolved through politics The Commission for Air Quality Management CAQM has come up with Graded Response Action Plan GRAP which will have to be implemented in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana too in Ghaziabad Noida Greater Noida Gurugram and BahadurgarhWe have been following GRAP and have accordingly banned construction work barring some essential projects in Delhi We need the support of the governments in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh They need to become active he saidAsked about the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights notice to the Delhi government for not ordering closure of schools Rai said the recommendations will be sent to CAQMThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever