Ministry pursuing air pollution issue: Vardhan

Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan today said the ministry was "continuously" pursuing the issue of air pollution control in the national capital.
He said the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had also called a meeting with the implementing agencies to review the actions being taken for better air quality in the Delhi- NCR.
"The ministry (environment) is continuously pursuing the matter of air pollution control in Delhi," he said.
"It is evident that because of sustained actions by various agencies, the air quality has improved significantly," the minister said.
Vardhan said the Particulate Matter (PM) levels at 6 pm today were 243.9 micrograms per cubic meter for PM10 and 153.6 micrograms per cubic meter for PM2.5.

He all actions, including dust mitigation measures by the construction agencies, were being "insisted upon".

He said the CPCB chairman, secretary DST and the chief secretary of the Delhi government held a meeting to discuss the issues of landfill sites and both short and long-term measures required for effective control of air pollution from them.
The citizens of Delhi breathed easy today as the air quality turned better and remained outside the 'severe plus' category for the fourth day.
SAFAR (System of Air Quality And Weather Forecasting And Research) has forecast that air quality might dip over the weekend due to incursion of moisture and fall in inversion layer which will keep pollutants trapped near the surface.

The air quality index (AQI), at 310, was in the 'very poor' zone. However, the figure was lower than yesterday's 363.