Actions taken by us to tackle air pollution 'deficient': Delhi govt tells NGT

The Delhi government on Tuesday told the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that actions taken by it were "deficient" and more steps need to be taken to tackle air pollution in the national capital.

"Coordinated actions of enforcement have been done in the last four months. We feel that the actions taken by us are deficient. We need to take more steps," Delhi Chief Secretary, Vijay Kumar Dev told the tribunal.

The tribunal was examining the status of implementation of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) and other measures adopted to control air pollution. For this purpose, it had asked the Delhi Chief Secretary to appear before it today.

The national capital regions (NCR) are shrouded in a toxic haze since last week. The Air Quality Index (AQI) today here is in the "very poor" category.

The Chief Secretary said that over 300 teams have been deployed to deal with the issue.

"We are coming down heavily on the burning of waste, dumping of construction and debris waste," he added.

The Delhi government said that only 55 per cent of the municipal solid waste is being processed and that there is a lack of "full propensity".

Besides the Chief Secretary, the NGT had also asked Delhi Pollution Control Committee chairperson, Central Pollution Control Board member secretary and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change joint secretary to appear before it.

The central government submitted before the tribunal that "Meetings have been held at the level of secretaries. We have given Rs 1150 crores to different states, 14,000 machines were provided last year and 50,000 machines have been pressed this year too."

It added that at the ground level the farmers need a major push, and municipal and industrial waste burning needs to be controlled as it contributes 60 per cent to pollution.

Pulling up the centre, the tribunal said, "Why has the government not been able to work out a system for prevention? The steps taken in an emergency situation is like disaster management. Instead of just dealing with the problem there has to be a holistic approach. Methods need to be revisited."

It also asked the Centre to come up with the best solution to tackle pollution and adopt a holistic approach to deal with the issue.