Amid the ongoing conflict between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena over the "Red Light On, Gaddi Off" campaign, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Monday said that the file answering all questions raised by LG regarding the campaign has been sent.
"Today the file has been sent to him again by the Delhi government, answering his questions. We have said that an emergency situation is being created in Delhi, and in such a situation, all-round efforts are necessary. So, the red light on the vehicle off campaign should be approved," he said.
Delhi Environment Minister drew attention to the pollution level in the national capital and said that the wind speed is also decreasing in Delhi, the pollution level is increasing, and the third phase of GRAP has been implemented. There is a ban on construction and demolition. Bio-decomposer is being sprayed for stubble smelting.
"When this scheme was first outlined in 2020, its basis was the research related to it done in India itself. A study by scientists says that the vehicles parked on red lights at different intersections cause more than nine per cent of the pollution," Gopal Rai elucidated.
Delhi Environment Minister further added that such a campaign has also been run in North Carolina, and London, USA. After such a campaign in Salt Lake City, USA, people started stopping their vehicles at the red light.
"We have to pass through ten or twelve intersections a day, we create pollution of 25-30 minutes without any meaning. The purpose of this campaign is that it should have an impact on the people," he said.
"We have sent the file again to the LG with all the facts and hope that based on the facts and keeping in mind the emergency situation of Delhi, the LG will allow it," Rai said.
Earlier on October 30, LG sent the file about the "Red Light On, Gaddi Off" campaign to the Chief Minister with advice to reconsider the proposal in light of observations made by him (LG) on the file.
Pointing out the inhuman and exploitative use of Civil Defence Volunteers (CDVs) at extremely polluted traffic intersections and sites, the LG highlighted, "the basic premise of the campaign which seeks to risk the health of 'few individuals' 'on the assumption' of protecting the 'health of many' is faulty and does not appear to have any parallel in any other civilized metropolitan city".
As per sources, the LG further added that any effective and sustainable solution to this longstanding problem would involve technological interventions and not ad hoc steps, "year after year and in the long run technological solutions need to be found for enforcement of such measures, rather than deploying humans and putting them at risk," he observed.
To address the deteriorating air quality of the National Capital Region, the Sub-Committee for invoking actions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) of the CAQM in NCR and adjoining areas held an emergency meeting on Saturday.
This meeting was conducted after the third phase of GRAP in Delhi NCR.
While comprehensively reviewing the overall air quality parameters during the meeting, the Commission noted that due to unfavourable meteorological conditions with slower wind speed and sudden spike in farm fire incidents, it is considered necessary to implement Stage III of GRAP with immediate effect in the entire NCR.
( With inputs from ANI )
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