With the winter round the corner, and bringing with it the spectre of air pollution, the Central Government has started taking stock of the measures being taken to deal with it in the National Capital Region (NCR).

In this connection, Dr P K Mishra, Principal Secreatry to the Prime Minister has chaired a meeting of the  `high-level task force’ constituted to improve the air quality in the National Capital Region of Delhi.

During the meeting, a review was carried out of the main sources of air pollution, measures taken and the progress made by the State Governments and various Ministries. It was noted that the incidence of stubble burning had reduced by more than 50 per cent in last two years and the number of Good Air Quality Index (AQI) days had gone up.

During the past few years, stubble burning by the farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh has led to frightening increase in the air pollution of NCR. The meeting examined detail the The efforts and plans made by these three states to control crop residue burning, including ground level deployment and availability of machinery for in-situ management of crop residue.

Stubble burning by the farmers has been identified as the leading cause of increased air pollution in NCR. During the review meeting, it was stressed that adequate number of teams should be deployed at ground level and they should ensure that no stubble burning takes place, especially in the state of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.