Delhi Environment Minister Sirsa says capital to not see significant improvement in AQI in coming days

Manjinder SIngh Sirsa

Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Wednesday said that the city will not be seeing any significant improvementy in air quality index in the next few days. He, however, added that the government is working on get hold of the situation as soon as possible.

Sirsa was addressing a press conference in the national capital and said that like last year, this winter is also witnessing poor air quality days.

"The pollution level in Delhi is very high. The next few days are not expected to be much better compared to last year’s figures, so we are making every effort to improve the situation… We are continuously working to improve air quality in the coming week. There will be 50% work from home in Delhi, which is a significant step," he said as quoted by news agency ANI.

Further spekaing baout the situation that has everyone worried, he mentioned some measures to control the air pollution.

On Tuesday, Sirsa had announced that the vehicles that do not have a valid Pollution Under Control (PUC0 certificate would not be allowed to refuel.

"Starting tomorrow, I appeal to the people of Delhi to get their PUC (Pollution Under Control) certificates. They will not get fuel without a PUC certificate. Trucks carrying construction materials into Delhi have also been banned. I appeal to people coming from outside Delhi to bring vehicles that comply with Bharat Stage 6 (BS6) emission standards," he said.

Meanwhile, he also said that the government is looking at the possibility of a complete overhaul of the PUCC system and that a third-party monitoring system mi8ght be introduced in its place.

Speaking about pollution, the Delhi government has also said that it is planning to introduce a car-pooling application to urge people to travel together in order to avoid congestion.

"We are also trying for a carpooling app for Delhi. There is no system in place right now for car pooling. We are trying to make a carpooling app for Delhi. There will be options for people to use their cars for carpooling or to travel via carpooling," Sirsa said.