Govt to bring new law to curb air pollution in Delhi-NCR

New Delhi, Oct 27: With Delhi continuing to grapple with increasing levels of pollution, the Centre has decided to soon bring in a new legislation to curb air pollution in the city and NCR, a top official from the Ministry of Environment said.

“The new law will be only for Delhi and NCR. It will come out soon. I cannot comment on what penalties it will entail. It is a new law to curb pollution in Delhi NCR region only. Air Act is for the nation and it will be as it is,” Environment Secretary, R P Gupta, told PTI.

The response from him came after the Supreme Court, which had raised concern over the worsening air quality in Delhi-NCR, was told by the Centre on Monday that it will bring a new legislation to curb pollution and submit a proposal before it in four days. Delhi's air quality has been in 'very poor' category and is predicted to remain so till October 31.

The share of stubble burning in Delhi's PM2.5 concentration was 16 percent on Monday. It was 19 percent on Sunday and 9 percent on Saturday. NASA's satellite imagery also showed a very dense cluster of fires in Punjab, Haryana and nearby regions.

In its October 16 order, the top court had ordered deployment of National Cadet Corps, National Service Scheme and Bharat Scouts and Guides for assisting in the monitoring of stubble burning in the agricultural fields of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi-NCR, saying all it wants is that “people of Delhi-NCR can breathe fresh air without any pollution”.