Environment minister announces programme to fight air pollution

Prakash Javadekar

With the national capital reeling under poor air quality putting human health at risk, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has announced a 'four-solution' program beginning 2020 to "reduce air pollution by 90 percent".

Speaking at a news channel recently, Javadekar said, "First of all, pollution generated by vehicles is prominent and as one of the recent efforts to reduce the damage, the government has invested Rs 7,000 crore to avail Bharat Standard 6 (BS6) petrol."

"Also, cars manufactured from 2020 will be BS6 compliant," he said. The minister said the expressway in the city, which has been talked about for the last 20 years without any accomplishment, is almost complete and will be open to public in just one more year.

He said restriction has been imposed on the entry of thousands of trucks, which used to enter Delhi without purpose, and this has led to a reduction in pollution level in the city.

The other two strategies of the 'four-solution' program include increasing the number of e-vehicles and awareness among people, he said at India Today Conclave held recently.

Residents, too, have started taking initiatives to make the environment pollution free. Chakra, a startup founded by IIT Delhi graduate Kushagr Srivastava, extracts pollutants from the air and converts them into ink and paint.

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