Delhi government proposes 20 more air quality stations

NEW DELHI: Under attack for failing to arrest the deteriorating air quality in the city, the government has proposed an increase in the number of ambient air quality monitoring systems from 6 to 26 to ensure higher coverage.

Highlighting the steps taken by his government to make the city greener, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said 8.43 lakh saplings and 11.72 lakh shrubs were planted in 2016 alone. This, he claimed, raised Delhi’s forest cover by almost 1%.

The government announced a total expenditure of Rs 106 crore on environment and forest in 2017-18. This includes a revenue budget of Rs 75 crore and capital budget of Rs 31 crore. In addition, Rs 57 crore has been earmarked for implementation of different schemes and programmes under the environment and forest sector.

A maiden wildlife bird rescue centre has been proposed and is being developed at Rajokri over an area of 6 acres. New city forests at Garhi Mandu, Bela Farm, Shastri Park, Issapur, Khadkhari Jatmal, Alipur and Mukhmelpur are also proposed.

To promote non-polluting battery operated vehicles, the government had announced subsidy schemes last year and granted Rs 1.06 crore to 686 such vehicles in 2016-17. These subsidies will continue.

Experts TOI spoke to, however, felt that more could have been done in terms of combatting pollution, especially by focusing on public transport. “The increase in air quality monitoring stations is a much-needed step, but there were huge expectations towards augmenting public transport,” said Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director, CSE.