Rajya Sabha members on Thursday raised the issue of high pollution levels in the Delhi-National Capital Region and said farmers alone should not be held responsible for the situation, while suggesting that they must get incentives for not burning crop residue.
During a discussion on the issue, they said pollution level is on rise also because of contribution from industries, construction activities and vehicular emissions.
Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Thursday tabled a report on the steps taken by the Centre to control the pollution in Delhi-NCR and said there is an overall general improvement in the air quality of the national capital successively from 2016.
The government has set up a High Level Task Force under the chairmanship of the principal secretary to the prime minister, which is closely monitoring the implementation of measures related to management of air pollution in the region.
A comprehensive Air Plan for NCR has been developed identifying the timeline and a source-based approach has been adopted to control air pollution.
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Kumari Selja of the Congress said that farmers alone should not be held responsible and the government should arm them with technologies and incentives to not burn crop residue.
"There should be incentives for not burning stubble and also the issues should be linked with programmes as MGNREGA," she said.
She further added that the issue needs a holistic approach as farmers from Punjab and Haryana are held guilty like criminals.
BJP MP Vijay Goel alleged that the Delhi government has done nothing to combat pollution and the city slipped to 118th rank in the latest Global Liveability Index for 2019 in a year from 112th.
According to a recent report from Gangaram Hospital, the number of patient with lungs related diseases has grown up 10 times.
Manoj Kumar Jha of the RJD said that real estate sector and the industries are responsible for the pollution in Delhi. He further added that there is no scientific study to show that the farmers of Haryana, Punjab and Western UP are responsible for the hazardous pollution in Delhi.
JDU's Kahkashan Perveen suggested that the green cover in the national capital should be increased as done by the Bihar government.
Sanjay Singh of the AAP said that even Union Minister Javedkar in his report has admitted that the pollution in Delhi has reduced in the last two years and the city is no more in the list of the top polluted places.
According to him, the green cover in Delhi has increased to 17 per cent and the two polluting power plants in the city have been closed by the AAP government.
While Veer Singh of the BSP suggested that the government should buy stubble from the farmers, Vandana Chavan of the NCP said that cities should have carbon inventories.
She said the state government and municipal bodies should be encouraged for that.
Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said all political parties need to come together to tackle the problem of air pollution.
He said Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar should ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convene a meeting of chief ministers and Lt governors in order to set an agenda to deal with the issue.
"In the meeting, it can be decided as what would the central government do and what role can the states play to curtail air pollution," Azad said.
He noted that pregnant women and children were the worst sufferers of the hazardous air quality.
Balwinder Singh Bhunder (SAD) said that stubble burning was not the only cause of air pollution and that industries and emissions from vehicles were the bigger culprits.
He sought funds for farmers as well as provision of advance equipment to be utilised in the farms to reduce air pollution.
SP's Ravi Prakash Verma said that around 12.5 lakh people died due to ailments related to air pollution in the country in 2017.
He said that despite deaths taking place annually, the response of the government is not satisfactory.
He asked the government to form a joint parliamentary committee to deliberate on the serious problem.
K J Alphons of the BJP attacked the AAP government in Delhi for "not taking adequate steps to tackle the issue".
He said the Kejriwal government should stop giving out advertisements but instead start taking some real action on the ground.
Countering him, AAP MP Sushil Kumar Gupta listed various initiatives being taken by his government. He said the AAP government brought in odd-even scheme and is trying to popularise public transport in the capital.
MD Nadimul Haque (AITC) said the Delhi government has taken various good steps to tackle air pollution.
Tiruchi Siva of the DMK said that it is made to believe that stubble burning is the main cause of air pollution whereas it is the emissions from vehicles and industries that are the main contributors for the worsening air quality.
"It is the anti-farmer lobby that has been promoting this," he noted.
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