NEW DELHI: The Centre on Friday reviewed Haryana’s efforts to tackle air pollution in the Delhi-NCR region and called for accelerated implementation of pollution-control measures, stronger coordination among agencies and stricter enforcement to ensure a significant improvement in air quality before winter.
At a review meeting in Gurugram, chaired by Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, discussions focused on Haryana’s air pollution action plan, with emphasis on tackling stubble burning, legacy waste, road dust, industrial emissions and expanding infrastructure to support faster adoption of electric vehicles. Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and senior state government officials attended the meeting.
“The window before the winter season must be fully utilised to implement pollution-control measures in mission mode. Timely execution, effective coordination and strict enforcement will be critical to achieving visible improvements in Delhi-NCR’s air quality,” Yadav said.
Addressing the recurring challenge of stubble burning, the minister urged the state government to bridge gaps in the procurement of Crop Residue Management (CRM) machinery and speed up the establishment of Custom Hiring Centres. He also called for intensive information, education and communication (IEC) campaigns and farmer training programmes to promote the effective use of CRM equipment.
Yadav suggested that local elected representatives work with gram panchayats to identify stubble-burning hotspots, while directing district collectors to survey industrial units and map their crop residue storage and consumption capacities to improve demand-supply management. He also stressed the need to ensure adequate availability of crop residue balers.
The minister reviewed progress in construction and demolition (C&D) waste management and urged the state to expedite the establishment of secondary collection centres. He also called for the clearance of legacy waste on a “war footing”.
On municipal solid waste (MSW) and biomass burning, Yadav advocated the creation of dedicated task forces and emphasised achieving 100% collection of municipal waste and biomass to eliminate littering and prevent open burning.
Reviewing measures related to End-of-Life (EoL) vehicles, the minister asked authorities to expedite the issuance of No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for transferring eligible vehicles outside the NCR while encouraging the scientific scrapping of old and unfit vehicles. He also called for faster replacement of polluting vehicles with electric vehicles under the ‘Parivartan’ scheme.
To strengthen enforcement, Yadav directed officials to install Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras at all fuel stations for effective implementation of the ‘No PUCC, No Fuel’ initiative. He also asked authorities to identify traffic congestion hotspots on a mission mode and implement mitigation measures at the earliest to improve urban traffic management.
On industrial pollution, the minister stressed the need for faster installation of Online Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems (OCEMS) and Air Pollution Control Devices (APCDs) across industrial units to strengthen emission monitoring and compliance.
