New Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has appealed to the people of Delhi to actively participate in the fight against air pollution. He said that neighbouring states are not helping in the cause and people of Delhi will have to fight against pollution as much as possible to protect the state. He said that the 2 crore people of Delhi have to come together to bolster this fight against pollution and take up 3 major steps to reduce pollution. The CM informed that the Red Light On Gaadi Off campaign will begin in Delhi on 18th October and requested citizens to actively participate in it.
A PCRA report states that turning off cars at red lights can save about Rs 250 Crore and reduce pollution by 13-20%. The CM further said that we can all avoid using our personal vehicles at least once a week to save fuel and reduce pollution. He appealed to citizens to be more vigilant about pollution in the state and report all cases of pollution they see on Green Delhi App. He further said that pollution is rising in Delhi because neighbouring states did not cooperate; farmers have been forced to burn stubble and pollution levels rising in Delhi due to it.
CM Kejriwal talked about how the pollution levels of Delhi get drastically affected by stubble burning and said, "Since the last one month I have been tweeting data about Delhi's air pollution levels consistently. I am doing this to make people aware of the actual pollution levels of Delhi. We saw how Delhi's pollution levels are within safe limits despite the presence of vehicular, industrial, and all other sources of pollution throughout the year. The pollution levels stay within the safe limits throughout the year but during this time of the year, it starts to increase gradually. One can go and check my tweets in the last 3-4 days and observe how the pollution levels have been on the rise. The reason behind this rise is the fact that the governments of the neighbouring states did not at all try to help their farmers in managing the stubble. The farmers have been forced into burning their stubble. It is very evident in NASA’s satellite images that stubble burning has started in the neighbouring states. Thanks to all of this Delhi will have to again bear with incessant winter pollution.”
