Zee Conclave: 'Reduced Stubble Burning By 50%...', Says Delhi Minister Gopal Rai

New Delhi: Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Tuesday blamed the Centre and the neighbouring states for the worsening air quality in the national capital and its suburbs. Attending Zee News' conclave on air pollution crisis, Rai said that there is an air shed of about 250 km in north India and the winds do not respect the state borders. "We divide the pollution into two parts: one is the winter pollution and the other is the year-round pollution," he added. 

Rai said that this includes dust pollution, vehicle pollution, biomass burning pollution. He said that people ask why Delhi is the only one troubled by this. He said that the meteorological condition of Delhi is such that the temperature here is higher. He said that Delhi’s contribution to pollution is less and the pollution problem is not of any party.

He said that research on this is being done by the Pusa Institute. He said that the time to decompose the stubble is now 20 days. He said that today the whole of north India is struggling with pollution. But he asked if anyone has questioned the central environment minister or the ministers of Haryana or Uttar Pradesh. He said that the work that the government in Punjab could not do in 10 years, they have reduced the stubble burning by 50 per cent.

He said that today there is no diesel generator running in Delhi. He said that even today electricity is running on diesel in Gurugram. He said that they are providing 24 * 7 electricity in Delhi. He said that all buses in Delhi run on CNG. He asked why the buses of Haryana run on diesel in the entire NCR. He said that the work that they are doing, why can’t Uttar Pradesh and Haryana do it.

He said that the central government is giving crores of rupees budget to buy machines. He said that the state is also giving. But he said that even then the farmer has to spend some money. He said that they are saying that the central government should increase the money that it is spending on machines. He said that the rest of the money will be given by the Punjab government.

He said that in Japan, the centre made the budget. He said that in China, the centre made the budget. He said that they are bringing buses in Delhi. But he said that even the central minister is not ready to speak here. He said that whatever work he has done, he has done it on odd-even. He said that the central government will give any responsibility, they will do 10 per cent more work.

He said that our mindset has not changed yet. He said that the whole world used to say that odd-even will not be successful. But he said that the people of Delhi followed it. He said that if the people of Delhi take some oath, then they will teach the wrong intention people too. He said that Diwali does not mean crackers. He said that when Lord Rama came, then lamps were lit. He said that there was no gunpowder at that time.

He said that they also got videos of people who did not burn 10 crackers. He said that those people burned crackers scattered this time. He said that this was done intentionally. He said that artificial rain is also being talked about continuously with their IIT Kanpur. He said that stubble will stop burning in a week. But he said that they are also thinking about the pollution ahead. He said that how can it be reduced. But he said that the public also has to stop unnecessary fuel burning.

He said that they are working with zero power and still doing a lot. He said that when the pollution increased in Delhi, they called a meeting of 28 departments of Delhi. But he said that none of the senior officers came. He said that he also went to the LG. He said that you can check today that buses and metro are also running empty. He said that you can check the report.