Delhi govt to come out with long-term action plan to tackle dust pollution: Gopal Rai

The Delhi government will come out with a comprehensive long-term action plan to tackle dust pollution for which a seven member expert committee has been formed, Environment minister Gopal Rai said on Friday.Rai said he has also directed officials to prepare an action plan to deal with the problem of pollution in Delhi.The environment minister said this after holding a meeting with officials of the environment department.

The Delhi government will come out with a comprehensive long-term action plan to tackle dust pollution for which a seven-member expert committee has been formed, Environment minister Gopal Rai said on Friday.

Rai said he has also directed officials to prepare an action plan to deal with the problem of pollution in Delhi.

The environment minister said this after holding a meeting with officials of the environment department. The department will also hold a round table conference of experts on March 4 to plan its-anti pollution campaign during lean period of March- September, Rai said.

''The seven-member committee including members from IIT Delhi, Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will submit its action plan report to the government on control dust pollution based on which a long term plan will be prepared by it,'' Rai told reporters.

In view of the deteriorating air quality in the city, PWD and municipal corporations have also been directed to hasten water sprinkling on the roads. The green war room set up to receive complaints against various agencies is also being strengthened so that action could be taken against the erring officials, he said.

Various organizations and institutions like the IITs, TERI and Greenpeace will be invited to the round table conference for their suggestions on how to conduct the anti-pollution campaign during the March- September period.

''An action plan will be prepared, after discussing the suggestions received at the round table conference, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal,'' the environment minister said.

He said officials informed in the meeting that a smog tower being constructed at Connaught Place with a cost of Rs 20 crore will be completed by June month.

A team has also been formed to monitor the work on the tower so that the timelines for its completion could be strictly followed, he added.

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