New Delhi, Nov 22 : The Centre on Friday asserted in Lok Sabha that it would resolve air pollution issued in less time compared to Beijing, which took 15 years in solving the problem.
Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar made the announcement while speaking in Lok Sabha during a discussion on 'air pollution and climate change' which continued for the third day on Friday.
"Beijing took 15 years to solve pollution problem, we will take less time compared to them and for which we will do a united effort," Javadekar said in his around half-hour address to the House on the issue, which was initiated by Congress' Manish Tewari on Tuesday.
The discussion resumed on Thursday on the second day.
Stressing on the need to develop a mentality of planning trees, awareness in public and a movement to adopt those measures which reduces pollution, the Minister said a national knowledge network is there in the country in which all scientists sit together and inspect new technology to deal with pollution problem.
"India will lead in climate change and get free from air pollution very soon," Javadekar said.
Sharing a calculation that a person needs Oxygen for whole life which is produced by seven trees, Javadekar said we should take a pledge to plant seven trees to construct Oxygen bank for oneself.
Noting that trees consume carbon from the environment, the Minister said the government will plant trees for growing more forests in coming 10 years which will be equivalent to 2.5 billion of carbons.
"This is a very big target and such aim was not put by any country in the world in regards to forest increase."
In the last four years, Javadekar said around 13,000 square metre green cover has been increased in our country, and declared that the green cover of only two countries is increasing in the world including India.
In Cop-14 summit on land degradable issue, which was organised here in Delhi last month, the Minister said our Prime Minister had announced that India will take steps to make 26 million hectare (2.60 crore) barren land green in the next 10 years.
"We are moving on our own path, now the world has to move."
"India's version will be clear in the Cop-25 summit in Spain next month.
India will say that it has been following what promises were made during Paris summit and every country will have to do that."
Development and the protection of the environment are the aims which the government wants to achieve simultaneously, the Minister said.
The Minister said that the measurement of all industries has been changed and they have been directed to adopt new technology.
"We have put 3,500 maximum pollution productive industries on a 24X7 monitoring machine to check if the current level.
We have also kept checking of the place from where the discharge water of these industries exits."
"So far we have reduced the emission intensity by 22 per cent and our target is to reduce it to 35 per cent very soon."
Mentioning that the solution of the problem comes when the base of the problem is recognised, the Minister said the Air Quality Index (AQI) was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015 for this purpose.
"The AQI survey is done on 730 locations in 344 cities across India."
He said that the pollution level is higher in plane areas and informed that four reasons are behind the pollution that includes industry, vehicle, dust and biomass burning.
Observing that pollution is not a political issue because everybody breathes the same air for which, the Minister said the Centre's work in this direction has led to compel a total of 2,800 industries to shift to PNG and around 3,000 brick kilns on "jhikjhak" technology.
Over stubble burning issue raised by Delhi government as a major reason of pollution in Delhi and NCR, the Minister said it is done in Delhi and the states should deal with those issues.
BS-6 petrol and diesel will be available in the country from April next year, said the Minister, adding a direction has also been given to all industries to produce vehicles complying with the BS-6 technology which will lead to decrease the vehicle pollution up to 80 per cent.
"We are also working through a national clean air programme and spending money in city specific schemes," he added.
--IANS
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Source: IANS
