New Delhi: Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have completed only 40-60% of the pollution control measures targeted in the respective state annual action plans ahead of winter, according to progress recorded till Sept 30.Uttar Pradesh has performed the best, completing 60% of its targets, followed by Delhi at around 50%. Haryana has completed 45% of its targets, while Rajasthan has achieved only 40%. Delhi continues to lag in the end-to-end paving of roads, a key measure to curb dust pollution.The annual plans, prepared by the respective states, were submitted to Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), which is tracking their progress. “We have asked the states to expedite the implementation of pending measures during the review meetings,” said a CAQM official.The plans were prepared in Jan, targeting dust mitigation, municipal waste management, electric mobility and augmenting public transport, control of industrial emissions and managing stubble burning. The actions are to be completed by Dec, with some targets were to be met in a phased manner on a quarterly basis.“Delhi has added new mechanised road sweeping machines, but it is yet to procure medium and small machines to clean narrow and medium-sized roads,” said the official. “It is also still to meet its target for end-to-end paving of roads. It often happens that a newly repaired road is dug up by other agencies. To avoid such situations, we have asked states to ensure better coordination among agencies,” he added.Delhi has met its target of operationalisation of 13 new continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations. “Of the total 28 congestion points requiring long-term intervention, Delhi has fixed just eight points by Sept 30,” said the official. However, it has met the proposed timeline of adding 130 secondary construction and demolition waste collection points.UP has added 319 electric vehicle charging points against the target of 267 points. It has, however, been asked to add more charging points, considering the need.Haryana is falling short in municipal solid waste management and the procurement of additional mechanised road sweeping machines.The progress of Delhi and neighbouring states is being monitored by CAQM’s new integrated command and control centre known as Platform for Air Quality Vigilance and Analytics for NCR (Pavan).
