Delhi smog: Kejriwal calls Cabinet meet, Centre says 'emergency' in city

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday called an emergency meeting of the Cabinet at 12:30 pm to discuss the issue of large scale air pollution clogging Delhi.

Air Quality Index (AQI) from Delhi on Sunday morning was PM10 in RK Puram at 999, 436 at IGI airport, Punjabi Bagh at 999, and Shanti Path area at 662. Heavy smog continued to cover many parts of the city.

Meanwhile, a protest was held at Jantar Mantar against the situation in the city.

With Delhi facing its worst smog in 17 years, the Centre on Saturday described the situation as a ‘emergency’. A meeting of environment ministers of all states neighbouring Delhi might be held on Monday to explore ways to address the crisis, said a report in the Indian Express.

Meanwhile, a thick blanket of haze continued to cover the national capital on Sunday with pollution level remaining very high and breaching the safe limit by over 17 times at several places.

Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave appealed for a united response, adding that no one should indulge in ‘political blame game’ on the issue.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday had met Dave and asked him to impose curbs on the burning of farm stubble in neighbouring states, which Kejriwal blamed for turning Delhi into a ‘gas chamber’.

“There is an emergency situation in Delhi. The situation is bad, particularly for children, patients, women and elderly. We need to take immediate steps to deal with the situation,” Dave said after meeting Kejriwal.

Dave also said a health advisory may be issued ‘if the need be’.

Delhi Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung has also called a high level meeting tomorrow on the issue in which immediate, short-term and long-term measures to combat the growing air pollution in the city are to be discussed.

Delhi Chief Minister, PWD Minister, Environment and Forest Minister, Chief Secretary, NDMC Chairman and all three Municipal Commissioners are among those attending the meeting.

Meanwhile, the first day's play of two Ranji Trophy games in New Delhi was cancelled yesterday due to poor light caused by smog.

The players complained of irritation in eyes and breathing problems.

The matches cancelled were Group A league encounter between Bengal and Gujarat at the Feroz Shah Kotla and Group C match at Karnail Singh Stadium between Tripura nd Hyderabad.

On Saturday, the Delhi CM said vehicle restriction measures like odd-even will not be able to bring down smog as initial studies suggest that the "large scale" influx of pollutant-laden smoke from Punjab and Haryana has aggravated the situation.

"Pollution has increased to an extent that outdoors in Delhi are resembling a gas chamber. Prima facie the biggest reason seems to be burning of stubble in agricultural fields in Haryana and Punjab in huge quantity," Kejriwal told a press conference.

Shutting down of schools for a long time was not a feasible solution, he said, when asked about the decision of the civic bodies to keep schools run by it closed for a day in view of pollution.

Kejriwal pitched for providing alternatives and incentives to farmers so that they discard the traditional practise.

He said the Delhi government has very few methods at its disposal and the Centre needs to intervene.

"The Centre can sit with the Chief Minister of these states and chalk out a solution. Few reports have put the volume of stubble being burned at around 16-20 million tonnes.”

"Fireworks during Diwali marginally added to the pollution. But other things inside Delhi did not drastically change. So the smog is mainly due to smoke from farm fires," he observed.

Kejriwal identified the main sources of pollution inside Delhi as vehicles, dust and waste burning, which he said could not be responsible for the pall of smog across the city.

"I saw smoke across Punjab, Haryana during my visits. We need Centre's help. We are hiring an agency in a week or two to study the sources of pollution in Delhi afresh. The Centre needs to intervene," he said.