Delhi minister seeks ideas on battling pollution, gets 5,000 responses in 1 hour

Delhi Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra on Monday sought suggestions from people on how to make the air cleaner in the city -- and got 5,000 responses in just one hour.

"5,000 responses in one hour. Delhi is joining hands. We can together make Delhi cleaner and a better place to live," Mishra told IANS.

Amid the political blame game after a thick smog blanketed Delhi, Mishra started an online campaign to reach out to people.

He created a petition on change.org, a website, and asked people in the city to offer suggestions on how to improve the situation.

"Pollution has reached a point of being a Public Health Emergency," his petition said. "This problem needs a collective actions from various state governments, the central government and YOU...

"I am keen to hear from you. Take two minutes to let me know your opinion -- what steps should the Delhi government take?" Mishra wrote.

"We need to solve this crisis together. As OneDelhi."

He said he and Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain would religiously study the suggestions and help overcome the crisis.

On Sunday, the Delhi government announced a slew of measures, including closure of schools for three days, to step up the campaign against rising pollution in the capital.

--IANS

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