Asserting that the thermal power stations were a major cause of pollution in Delhi, Power Minister Satyendar Jain on Wednesday wrote to R K Singh, Union Minister of State for Power, requesting him to shut down all thermal plants around the national capital.
"I have written a letter to the Union minister, urging him to shut all polluting power stations (around Delhi). There are 11 such thermal power stations," he said, addressing a press conference.
Jain added the Delhi government-run power stations had already been closed down in the past few years. "Delhi is the only state where there is no (functional) thermal power station... we're trying to curb pollution," Jain said.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) banned the use of electricity-generator sets of all capacities, running on diesel, petrol, and kerosene, from Thursday. It has excluded essential and emergency services from the ban.
Also, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Tuesday launched an initiative to tackle stubble burning, a major contributor to the Delhi pollution. They sprinkled a bio-decomposer solution, prepared by Pusa Research Institute, on a field at Hiranki village in Narela area of the national capital to convert stubble into compost.
On the other hand, the air quality in Delhi further deteriorated on Wednesday as the Air Quality Index (AQI) was 275 in Delhi's ITO and Anand Vihar, 263 in Rohini, and 229 in Nehru Nagar, all in the "poor" category, according to the DPCC.
An AQI between 0-50 is marked good, 51-100 is satisfactory, 101-200 is moderate, 201-300 is poor, 301-400 is very poor and 401-500 is considered severe.
( With inputs from ANI )
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