Delhi govt gears up to combat air pollution with artificial rain; ready to bear all expenses

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In view of the deteriorating air quality in the national capital, the Delhi government has decided to bear the entire cost of 'artificial rain' to curb the air pollution in the city, said officials. Also, the Delhi government has directed Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to present the government's views before the Supreme Court on Friday.

"The Secretary has been directed to prepare a proposal in coordination with IIT Kanpur and present it before the Supreme Court via an affidavit before the hearing tomorrow. The Delhi government is ready to bear the cost of Rs 13 crore for the two-phase pilot study," a statement from Gopal Rai's office said. The Environment Minister has also directed the Chief Secretary to request necessary permissions from the Centre and UP government by November 15, so that the first phase of the pilot study can be done before the 'artificial rain' on November 20-21.

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Meanwhile, the overall air quality in Delhi remained in 'severe' category on Thursday. To curtail the pollution situation, Gopal Rai said on Thursday that all Delhi ministers will work at ground level to ensure the implementation of air pollution control measures.

"Today, a joint meeting was held with all the ministers of Delhi, and discussions were held on how to activate the departments because implementation is a big challenge. The Cabinet has expressed displeasure over administrative laxity. The ministers will be working at the ground level in different districts," Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said after a review meeting on Thursday.

While Gopal Rai is in charge of North and North East districts, Kailash Gahlot is in charge of South West and West districts, Atishi is in charge of East and South East districts, Saurabh Bhardwaj is in charge of South and New Delhi, Imran Hussain is in charge of Central and Shahdara and Rajkumar Anand is in charge of North West district. Rai said that the ministers in their respective districts will be giving orders to the officers in charge of pollution control and will hit the ground for inspection as well.

"This minister will give orders to the officers associated with pollution duty and will also visit the ground himself. These visits will be especially on the borders of Delhi and there will also be visits to construction sites because, even though construction work has stopped at many places, rules regarding dust control have not been implemented. Officials have also been ordered to inspect," he said.

"It is expected that there will be clouds the day after tomorrow, but it is difficult to say whether it will rain or not. In such a situation, our effort is to implement the rules," the Delhi Environment Minister added. Currently, Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) has been implemented in the national capital after the city's air quality plummeted to the 'severe plus' category.

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