New Delhi: Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Friday wrote to Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, urging him to call a meeting of environment ministers of states in the NCR in view of the "serious situation" of pollution in the region.
The National Capital Region (NCR) also includes areas of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
In a letter to the Union Environment Minister, Rai has asserted that despite a slew of measures taken by the Delhi government to curb pollution, "no positive improvement is being witnessed,"
In view of the deteriorating air quality in the region, "I urge you to call a meeting of environment ministers of states in the National Capital Region and other experts to formulate a joint work strategy so that the pollution levels can be reduced," Rai wrote in the letter.
Read: Delhi air quality remains in 'very poor' category; AQI recorded at 335
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has directed the Centre and the states in NCR to implement the orders of the panel on air quality management to curb air pollution while ruing that some sections of the media and few people have "portrayed" it as a "villain" that wants to close down schools here.
Observing that the instruments like PIL would not have been needed if the governments do everything on their own, a special bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana said it was not an “adversarial litigation” and it will not close the case and will keep monitoring the measures to be taken up by the states to curb the pollution.
The bench, which also comprised justices D Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant, said, “Every day, we cannot monitor this case. We have to allow them to work. We are monitoring and nudging the government along.“
Court, meanwhile, permitted the Delhi government to resume construction activities at several places and prepare hospitals to counter the possible third wave of COVID-19.
(With agency inputs)
