Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai to chair high-level meeting on air pollution today

New Delhi: A multi-department high-level meeting on air pollution in the national capital is scheduled to take place on Monday (April 4, 2022). The aim of the meeting will be to formulate a campaign against open burning of garbage, fires at landfill sites and dust pollution, officials said on Sunday.

The high-level meeting will be chaired by Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai and will be held at the Delhi Secretariat around noon. The meeting will also be attended by senior officials from the environment department, Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board, fire services, Public Works Department, Delhi Development Authority and municipal corporations. 

Earlier, on Wednesday, Delhi Environment Minister directed the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to impose a fine of Rs 50 lakh on the East Delhi Municipal Corporation and take action against officials responsible for a massive fire at the Ghazipur landfill site.

Gopal Rai also informed that the government will plan a campaign against open burning of garbage and fires at landfill sites.

Meanwhile, days after a major fire in Ghazipur landfill site in east Delhi, civic authorities on Saturday said the process has begun to replace the old trommel machines with new, high-speed equipment that would eventually also double the waste-processing capacity to "three lakh tonne per month".

An estimated 140 lakh tonne of legacy waste is lying at the massive dump and processing it is a "challenging task," the East Delhi Municipal Corporation said in a statement.

"In order to reduce legacy waste at Ghazipur landfill site, EDMC has replaced the old-model trommel machines, and started installing the new-model, high-speed trommel machines. These machines will be operated in two shifts. In this way, the total waste disposal capacity of the corporation will be three lakh tonne per month," it said.