’Red light on, Gaadi off’ returns as Delhi AQI dips, no odd-even rule for now

mangaloretoday.com

New Delhi, Oct 23, 2023: With the national capital’s air quality plummeting to ‘very poor’, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai announced on Monday that the ’Red Light On, Gaadi Off’ campaign will start from Thursday, October 26.

The campaign aims to reduce air pollution in the city by encouraging people to turn off their engines when waiting at red lights.

 

Rai also said that odd-even vehicle rationing is not being considered at the moment. Under the odd-even scheme, private vehicles with registration plates ending in odd numbers ply on odd dates, and even numbers on even dates.
Firecrackers are banned in Delhi during Dussehra, Rai stated. He appealed to the people of Delhi to cooperate in reducing air pollution, saying that "whatever work we do will have an impact on us only."

Rai also expressed displeasure over officials not attending a meeting related to pollution. He said that secretaries of all departments were called to the meeting, but not even a single department secretary attended. He appealed to the Chief Secretary to ensure the participation of officers in such meetings.

“A meeting was held with 28 departments to implement GRAP-2 (Graded Response Action Plan) within Delhi. Apart from 13 hot spots, eight other points were also identified where AQI was recorded over 300. Nodals were instructed to deploy special teams at these eight points, where local sources of pollution will be assessed," the Minister said.

Rai said the government has also decided to use dust suppressant powder to prevent dust pollution in the city.

Delhi’s air quality turned "very poor" on Sunday for the first time since May, mainly due to a drop in temperature and wind speed, which allowed pollutants to accumulate. The capital’s 24-hour average air quality index stood at 313 on Sunday, deteriorating from 248 on Saturday.

Courtesy: India Today