Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta met Union Minister Nitin Gadkari at the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on Wednesday. Delhi Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena was also present on the occasion. The Union Minister reviewed the progress of ongoing National Highway projects in Delhi with Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena and CM Rekha Gupta. Other MPs and senior officials of the Delhi government were also present at the meeting. On June 3, launching the Air Pollution Mitigation Plan 2025, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday announced that from November 1, only BS-VI (Bharat Stage 6), CNG, or EV commercial vehicles will be allowed to enter the city.
"From November 1, 2025, any vehicle that comes to Delhi will have to be a BS6, CNG, or EV commercial vehicle," Gupta said at a press conference. She said that the state government's dream is to chase "clean, green and healthy Delhi", for which the Environment Ministry of Delhi has drafted an Air Pollution Mitigation Plan for this year. "Environment Day is very close, and air pollution in Delhi is a matter that is related to all of us. For years, we have been suffering from air pollution. We have a dream - Clean Delhi, Green Delhi, Healthy Delhi. I am very happy that our Environment Department and Minister have drafted a fantastic Air Pollution Mitigation Plan 2025," the Delhi CM said. Gupta said that the national capital would witness its first artificial rain "very soon" with the help of cloud seeding techniques.
"Very soon, Delhi will have its first artificial rain through cloud seeding," the CM said. She said the Delhi government would sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with science organisations to utilise innovative techniques to combat pollution. For cloud seeding and artificial rain, an MoU has been signed with IIT Kanpur as a pilot project. "To reduce and eliminate pollution, we will sign MoUs with all our science organisations, which will use their latest innovations to help the Delhi government fight against pollution. For example, the Delhi government has signed an MoU with IIT Kanpur, which is based on cloud seeding and artificial rain, which we have approved to start as a pilot project," Gupta said.
The Delhi CM said the government was planning to install "mist sprayers" in areas often categorised as pollution hotspots to manage dust particles. "It will be mandatory to install anti-smog guns on all high-rise buildings, especially commercial buildings above 3,000 metres, malls, hotels, etc. and due to this, dust mitigation will be reduced in all of Delhi," Gupta said.
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She said that the Delhi government also plans to install Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras at all entry points to the metropolitan city, which would allow the identification and stopping of end-of-life vehicles that spread pollution. "We will install Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras at all the entry points of Delhi, which will be able to identify end-of-life vehicles, and as soon as the vehicle comes in the range of these cameras, it will be known that this vehicle is an end-of-life vehicle and is spreading pollution, so they will be traced and stopped immediately. These cameras will also be installed at all petrol pumps, and we will be able to detect end-of-life vehicles... Together, we can deal with the big problem of pollution in Delhi," the Delhi CM said.