While the Capital and the NCR grapple with the problem of pollution, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government is moving so slow in this regard that any solution seems like a distant dream. Though the Comprehensive Action Plan, suggested by the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA), is soon to be notiified, the basic infrastructure that will be required after the notification is nowhere in sight.
As part of the plan, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), under the Environment Department, has to set up 20 more monitoring stations. The deadline for 14 of these stations is October this year. According to sources, however, the Department of Environment has not even called for tenders as of now.
The DPCC is also still in the process of consultations about the Action Plan, which will be implemented across Delhi-NCR, as the pollution levels are majorly affected by emissions from the NCR areas, including Gurgaon, Faridabad, and Noida.
In a meeting to review the state of air pollution last month, Lieutenant Governor (LG) Anil Baijal had asked the Delhi Environment Department to set up these new stations. "While the location for some of the first phase stations has been identified, the blueprint for the same is far from ready. They need to pick up pace as the construction will also take time," a senior official said.
The experts are of the opinion that the government does not have much time as by September, the pollution levels will start rising again. "One has to prepare in advance. Last year, the situation had reached an emergency level. The government agencies cannot lag behind in completing the basic structure in time," VivekChattopadhyaya, Scientist at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said.
Meanwhile on Monday, the air quality at Punjabi Bagh and Mandir Marg stations was in the 'poor category', and in Gurgaon it was in the 'very poor' category.
At present, Delhi has 28 real-time air quality monitoring stations, which are operated by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), and the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES). Of these 28, six monitoring stations are under the DPCC, including Anand Vihar, Civil Lines, IGIA, R K Puram, Punjabi Bagh, and Mandir Marg.
