Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday expressed “strong displeasure” at the steps taken by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to deal with the city’s alarming air pollution and directed it to immediately explore the possibility of engaging an expert agency for remedial steps in tackling the situation.
Mr. Kejriwal, who held a Cabinet meeting where DPCC officers made a presentation on the situation, directed the agency to make a fresh presentation on Monday on the ways to deal with the rising pollution along with an action plan.
Sources said that the Chief Minister also wanted to know the reasons behind the prevailing situation.
“In the meeting, the CM was angry with the way the DPCC was handling the situation. He directed the DPCC to immediately explore the possibility of involving an expert agency to study the reasons behind the prevailing situation and to recommend remedial steps to deal with the rising air pollution,” a source said.
In view of the heavy smog — the worst the capital has faced in 17 years — municipal corporations have ordered closure of their about 1,700 schools on Saturday.
The Capital is facing the worst smog in 17 years, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) had said on Thursday, while asking the Delhi government to issue health alerts and convey that children should stay indoors as there is a state of health emergency due to peaking air pollution.
Peak level of respirable pollutants PM 2.5 and PM10 had crossed the safe limits by over 15 times at places like R. K. Puram. The prescribed standard of PM2.5 is 60 micrograms per cubic metre, but it touched 955 during early morning hours on Thursday. — PTI
