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Prakash Javadekar urges people to stay from firecrackers; care for environment

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Published : Oct 7, 2019, 9:21 PM IST

Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar urged people not be burst firecrackers on Diwali and plant more and more trees. Talking to media persons, the minister also said that a number of measures have been taken by the government to control pollution.

Prakash Javadekar urges people to stay from firecrackers; care for environment

Prakash Javadekar

New Delhi: Encouraging people to be alert on environmental issues, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday urged people not to burst firecrackers this Diwali.

The minister, in a press conference here, said if anyone wanted to burst them at all, he should opt for green crackers.

Responding to a question on the issue of felling trees in Mumbai's Aarey forest, in which the Supreme Court has restrained authorities from cutting any more trees, Javadekar said he would not like to comment on a matter that is sub-judice.

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar addressing media persons

"The Supreme Court has given a decision on it, so I will not comment on the matter," the minister added.

Javadekar, however, said, "If you cut one tree, you plant and ensure the growth of five trees."

Asked if afforestation has worked for India, the minister said: "In the last four years, the green cover of the country has increased by 15,000 square kilometres. There are only a few countries in the world whose green cover has increased and those include India."

Earlier in the day, the top court restrained authorities from cutting anymore trees in Aarey Colony of Mumbai to build a Metro car shed.

The Union Minister also talked about pollution-related challenges, faced by the national capital. He said the Central government has taken a slew of measures for the purpose in the last four years.

"The problem of pollution began in 2005-06 and no one was talking about it until 2014 when the Modi government recognised the problem and undertook the challenge to address it," he said.

"We are bringing BS-VI compliant vehicles from next year, and 46 teams of the Central Pollution Control Board have been deployed to check the polluting activities in Delhi and NCR today onwards," Javadekar added.

Also Read: Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, other VIPs to attend 'Mahayagya' by VHP

New Delhi: Encouraging people to be alert on environmental issues, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday urged people not to burst firecrackers this Diwali.

The minister, in a press conference here, said if anyone wanted to burst them at all, he should opt for green crackers.

Responding to a question on the issue of felling trees in Mumbai's Aarey forest, in which the Supreme Court has restrained authorities from cutting any more trees, Javadekar said he would not like to comment on a matter that is sub-judice.

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar addressing media persons

"The Supreme Court has given a decision on it, so I will not comment on the matter," the minister added.

Javadekar, however, said, "If you cut one tree, you plant and ensure the growth of five trees."

Asked if afforestation has worked for India, the minister said: "In the last four years, the green cover of the country has increased by 15,000 square kilometres. There are only a few countries in the world whose green cover has increased and those include India."

Earlier in the day, the top court restrained authorities from cutting anymore trees in Aarey Colony of Mumbai to build a Metro car shed.

The Union Minister also talked about pollution-related challenges, faced by the national capital. He said the Central government has taken a slew of measures for the purpose in the last four years.

"The problem of pollution began in 2005-06 and no one was talking about it until 2014 when the Modi government recognised the problem and undertook the challenge to address it," he said.

"We are bringing BS-VI compliant vehicles from next year, and 46 teams of the Central Pollution Control Board have been deployed to check the polluting activities in Delhi and NCR today onwards," Javadekar added.

Also Read: Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, other VIPs to attend 'Mahayagya' by VHP

Intro:New Delhi: Amidst the Aarey trees row, the Union Environment Ministry Prakash Javadekar refused to comment on this issue as the Supreme Court has given its order on the matter. However, the Union Minister also assured that there is clear policy of the government to plant five tress after each tree cut down, anywhere in the country.

Body:While addressing a press conference, Prakash Javadekar said, "Supreme Court has given a decision over the matter. So, I won't comment on that." He said that the policy on Afforestation is that for every tree cut, five more are to be planted and this policy has resulted into an increased green cover of 15,000 sq kms in the country.

Recently, the Minister came into controversy after he backed the Maharashtra Government over the felling of trees in the Aarey Forest, while giving an example of Delhi Metro.

He also listed out several measures taken by the government to curb pollution in the region of Delhi-NCR. He claimed that the 'focused actions' of the government had a positive impact on air quality and improvement was noted in the year 2018, in comparison to 2016, as the number of 'Good Air Quality days' are increased from the previous years.

Asserting vehicular pollution as a major contributor to the Delhi's bad air quality, Prakash Javadekar announced that BS-VI compliant vehicles will be introduced to Delhi by April 2020, which will help to reduce air pollution in the National capital. He also said that nearly Rs 60,000 crores were spent on switching over to the BS-VI fuels.

The Union Minister also urged the people for not bursting firecrackers during this festive season or rather prefer the green crackers which have been recently launched by Dr Harshvardhan, Minister of Science and Technology.

Listing out the steps taken by the Government to curb pollution in Delhi-NCR, he said that 30000 to 40000 goods vehicles are diverted away from the National capital through Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressways to reduce traffic congestion and pollution.

"Metro network expansion played an important role in pollution reduction in Delhi-NCR. At present, 5,49,348 metric tonnes waste is being processed as Recycled Aggregate. Badarpur Thermal Plant has been closed to control industrial emissions," he added.

Conclusion:Ahead of the festive season, during which a blanket of pollution covers the National capital due to stubble burning in areas of Punjab and Haryana, Javadekar also pointed the scheme launched by Ministry of Agriculture for in-situ Management of Crop Residue, to address air pollution. Under this scheme, Rs 1,151.80 crore funds have been provided to the state governments of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh for providing subsidy on machinery required.

The Union Minister also said that a meeting will also be conducted, next week, along with the state ministers to address the issue of pollution.

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