FIFA U-17 World Cup: Gear up, pollution panel directs

A Supreme Court-appointed pollution monitoring panel today instructed authorities in the capital to gear up to avert any air pollution crisis during the upcoming FIFA U-17 World Cup.
The Central Pollution Control Board informed the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) that it has written to all the states which will host the matches of the world cup listing preventive measures.
During a meeting to review the Graded Response Action Plan, which lists measures to prevent pollution spiralling out of hand, the EPCA stressed that the capital cannot afford any repeat of 2010, when dust pollution had shrouded Delhi during the Commonwealth Games.

A host of measures under the severe category of the plan, which include the closure of the Badarpur thermal power plant, will kick in on October 15, the EPCA said.
The issue was also discussed in a meeting that was chaired by Lt Governor Anil Baijal recently. Authorities had considered preponing the date of closure of the plant, but eventually decided against doing so.
The 24-team tournament will have eight matches in Delhi Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium between October 6 and 16, just before the onset of winter, stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana, and Diwali, which push up pollution levels in the city to alarming levels.

According to the CPCB advisory, mechanised sweeping will have to be undertaken in the spots in and around the match venues and focus has to be put on traffic management and parking of vehicles.