'Centre lacks commitment in tackling air pollution in Delhi'

A coalition of organisations today said the Centre lacks commitment in tackling air pollution in Delhi and asked residents to tweet directly to the Union Environment and Power Ministers to voice their concerns.

Flagging three major concerns, the coalition slammed the Centre's move to support car manufacturers to allow registration of Bharat Stage-III vehicles, reopening of Badarpur coal power plant and possible dilution of emission control norms of thermal power plants.

"Terming Centre's attitude towards tackling air pollution in Delhi as 'lacking commitment', the coalition have called on the residents to tweet to the Minister of Environment and the Minister of Power directly to voice their concerns," the 'Help Delhi Breathe' coalition statement said.
 

Help Delhi Breathe coalition consist of organisations such as CEED, Greenpeace, Swechha, United Residents Joint Action (URJA) and Delhi Clean Air Forum.

The coalition has called on residents to tweet directly to Power Minister Piyush Goyal and Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave.

Greenpeace India campaigner Sunil Dahiya pointed out that there are a series of wrong decisions taken by the government.

"Badarpur plant which was shut down last winter should never even be allowed to reopen. Similarly, Centre should not have supported vehicle manufactures who ignore the April 1 deadline.

"Moreover, there are reports in the media that the Power Ministry is discussing with Environment Ministry on possible extension of emission control regulations of thermal power plants, which were announced two years ago soon after the Paris Climate Agreement," Dahiya said.

He added that every day that the government delays action on air pollution, more people die.

"Tackling air pollution of the worst order needs stringent and swift action by the government at the centre and the state," he said.

The Centre recently came out in support of auto manufacturers, urging the Supreme Court to allow the companies to sell their existing stock of BS-III vehicles even after Bharat Stage-IV emission norms come into force from April 1.

Anup Bandivadekar, Passenger Vehicles Program Director of International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) said the vehicle manufacturers in India have known for a long time that a full transition to BS-IV vehicles will happen on April 1, 2017.