CAQM issues advisory to curb open-air burning in Delhi-NCR
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CAQM directs RWAs for electric heaters for staffers in winter
By our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, August 8: In a move to control open bio-mass/ Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) burning, the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) has asked Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) and other residential societies to mandatorily provide electric heaters/ other suitable implements to all security and other service staff to curb open burning practices.
The CAQM advisory aims at reducing the harmful emissions impacting overall air quality of the National Capital Region (NCR) especially during the upcoming winter season.
“With winters approaching, the Commission recognizes the urgent need to issue an Advisory to tackle the issue of uncontrolled burning of MSW including bio-mass (wood, twigs/ branches, dried leaves etc.) across Delhi-NCR, particularly during the winter months,” said the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in a media statement.
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It stated that the “practice of open burning of bio-mass and MSW by security personnel and other individuals during winter season, often as a means to stay warm, expeditiously aggravates PM2.5 / PM10 levels in the ambient air besides other harmful gaseous pollutants and thus results in imposition of preventive/ restrictive actions under different stages of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in the entire NCR”.
The Commission, since its inception, has issued advisories, orders and directions towards mitigating the ill-effects of such uncontrolled open burning of waste/ biomass. Open burning of MSW and bio-mass etc., besides at other locations, is also witnessed across residential areas and is resorted to by the security staff / other service providers, particularly in gated residential complexes across Delhi during night times in the winters for heating/ warming purposes.
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“The Commission’s latest Advisory to RWAs across NCR emphasizes the importance of providing sustainable alternatives such as electric heaters to mitigate the need for open burning, thereby reducing the emission of pollutants and contributing to cleaner, air for all,” added the Ministry in the statement.
Further, RWAs and residents at large also need to be actively involved in fulfilling the collective responsibility to significantly improve upon the adverse air quality which is generally witnessed in Delhi during the winter months, said the Ministry.
In furtherance, the Directorate of Urban Local Bodies, GNCTD and the municipal bodies have also been advised to sensitise and widely disseminate this requirement amongst all the RWAs in Delhi and also monitor the implementation of the same periodically, under advice to the Commission.
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