New Delhi, May 18 : The Minister said government was also studying ill-effects of PM1 on health which was recently discovered.
“The PM1 is a new thing which has come. We take it as a challenge and study it. So the study is underway,” the Minister said. The Central Pollution Control Board is planning to monitor PM1, the least visible particulate matter, along with PM2.5 and PM10 under its National Air Quality Monitoring Programme.
Asked about air pollution in Delhi, he said Environment Ministry was working with various stakeholders to improve air quality of Delhi, adding it was not at loggerheadss with the city government over the issue. He said a three-year action plan has been devised to tackle air pollution in Delhi and government was seriously working on it.
“There is vehicular pollution, there is pollution from dust, pollution from stubble burning and industries. We have already tackled industrial pollution to a great extent. We have got good success in containing stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana.
“We have already opened 53 kms of bypass, second leg will be opened next year and final by 2018. Therefore no undestined vehicle will come into Delhi. We have already preponed migration to Bharat VI of fuel and vehicle standard,” he said.
The Minister said Bharat VI will come into force from 2020 and not from 2024 as envisaged earlier. “That will improve the quality of diesel and petrol. 90 per cent of vehicular pollution will go and with all the new waste management rules, there will be less dust,” he said.
The Environment Minister described these measures as part of a “long term, sustainable and permanent remedy” to deal with vehicular pollution.
“Modi government is investing Rs 60,000 crore. We are talking of a permanant solution. Every state can do their own experiment but I will not comment,” he said when asked about the odd-even scheme of the AAP government.