NEW DELHI: Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change,Government of India, on Sunday, October 18, through a Facebook live session, said that air pollution is not only a problem for Delhi but pan-NCR (National Capital Region). He also said that the Centre and the states of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have to work together to tackle the problem. He also said that the Centre has taken many initiatives to better the air quality in Delhi NCR. These include initiatives like opening the peripheral expressway around the capitalin order to divertnon-Delhi destined traffic away, and bringing in regulations related to management of construction and demolition waste, which is a major source of dust.
Javadekar added that he meets ministers of NCR states once a year to discuss pollution related issues. As a result of these meetings, the Centre has drawn short-term, medium-term, and long-term plans for reducing air pollution in Delhi-NCR.