NEW DELHI: With the aim to tackle the increasing air pollution level in Delhi, Gopal Rai, Minister for Environment, Government of Delhi, on Monday, September 8, extended the ban on the sale (including online sale and delivery), production, storage, and use of firecrackers in Delhi till January 1, 2025. Minister Rai informed that the decision has been taken considering the “danger of increasing air pollution in Delhi during the winter season.”
To ensure strict compliance with the firecracker ban, an action plan will be framed by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), Delhi Police, and the Department of Revenue.
The minister urged the people to help the government implement this ban. The government will also initiate campaigns under the Winter Action Plan based on 21 focus points, including controlling vehicular emissions and dust, encouraging work from home policies, preventing stubble burning and waste burning, mitigating industrial pollution, and improving the war room and green app to curb the pollution in the national capital.
The action plan also entails the UT government will collaborate with the Government of India and with the neighbouring states to address the issue of air pollution. Policies such as the odd-even vehicle rationing and artificial rain are also on the cards as emergency measures.
In the first six months of 2024, Delhi reported only 128 clean air days revealed a report was submitted by DPCC to the Delhi Government. The report measured the pollution levels in the national capital between January 2024 and July 2024. The report noted that vehicular pollution, industrial emissions, and open burning are some of the primary culprits for high levels of air pollution in Delhi. It added that to combat air pollution, the UT government plans to induct 3267 electric buses in the financial year 2024-25.