417 polluting units in Delhi ordered shut

The Delhi government has issued orders to shut down 417 polluting units in the national capital, a statement said on Monday.

The decision came at a time when Delhi's air quality has deteriorated drastically and fast moving to the severe levels.

Officials informed Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal during a meeting that 113 polluting industries, including 67 in highly-polluted Bawana and Narela, were asked to shut down for not converting to piped natural gas.

The meeting was attended by Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain and Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) Chairman Bhure Lal, among others.

During the meeting, Delhi Pollution Control Committee officials informed that they have deputed environment marshals for night patrolling in several pollution hotspots including Bawana, Narela, Mundka, Nangloi, Punjabi Bagh, Dwarka, Anand Vihar, Bhalaswa and Ghazipur.

Baijal directed more deployments of environment marshals.

--IANS

kd-vv/shs