The MoEF relied on a 42-point action plan from 2015 so far, realising the need to revise it after three days of the toxic blanket choking the Capital
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) on Thursday constituted a seven-member committee, headed by the environment secretary, to continuously monitor short-term and long-term solutions to air pollution. The ministry woke up to Delhi's public health emergency of toxic pollution haze three days after the air quality remained in the 'severe' category, leading to shutdown of schools.
The decision to constitute the committee was taken during a review meeting chaired by environment secretary, CK Mishra, and it would have to draw up a new plan to tackle pollution and ensure its enforcement. The committee will comprise of the Environment Secretary, Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology, Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology, Additional Secretary of NITI Aayog, Chief Secretary of Delhi, Chairman of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), and a representative of the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy. The review meeting was also attended by the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) chairperson Bhure Lal and member Sunita Narain.
Even as MoEF&CC constituted the committee, its inaction and shifting of responsibility to state governments has come under criticism. While the Capital's air quality has consistently gone from bad to worse during winters, the MoEF&CC is yet to come up with an overarching plan. In fact, the ministry has relied on a 42-point action plan from 2015 to drive its 'monitoring' of measures to curb pollution.
The 42-point action plan was first introduced during the tenure of Prakash Javadekar and spelled out short, medium, and long-term directions to Delhi and NCR states. After Delhi witnessed record pollution levels in 2016 soon after Diwali, Javadekar's successor (Late) Anil Dave, too, issued the same set of directions. The only addition made was that the Centre asked CPCB and State Pollution Control Boards to jointly inspect 17 categories of highly-polluting industries in NCR for compliance of emission standards.
Further, in September this year, Environment Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan reiterated the same set of directions, during a meeting with chief secretaries and senior officials of Delhi and NCR states.
Speaking to DNA, Environment Secretary CK Mishra said, "The meeting was largely to see if the directions we issued to the Delhi government, Haryana government and to Uttar Pradesh, are being implemented or not. We are trying to work on a mechanism to ensure proper implementation." He added, "We really need to have a CPCB that is more effective in getting things implemented , we need to back them up with certain kind of power.
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