Year-round plan in works to tackle air, water pollution: Delhi CM Rekha Gupta

NEW DELHI: Chief minister Rekha Gupta told TOI in an exclusive interview on Friday, just over 30 hours after being sworn in, that dealing with pollution has to be a year-round activity and her govt will have a 365-day plan. The BJP govt, sworn in on Thursday, has already indicated its resolve to clean the Yamuna in a time-bound manner. Environmentalists and people concerned over the worsening air pollution in the city have been pointing out that waking up just before winter with a band-aid approach doesn't mitigate pollution.

The chief minister seems to agree with that. "We believe that work on pollution has to be carried out around the year, be it dust or parali (stubble), vehicular or water pollution. Therefore, we will bring a 365-day plan," she said.



Concerned about any water or power crisis this summer because of rising demand, Gupta said a long-term plan will be drafted to seek water from UP, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Punjab. "I am Haryana's daughter too and I will ask them for more water," she said, hopefully. Except for Punjab, all these states have BJP govts.

When asked about the criteria for Mahila Samriddhi Yojana under which Rs 2,500 will be given to women as promised in BJP's manifesto, Gupta said welfare measures should benefit the deprived sections first. She expressed concern about the state of the treasury in Delhi and said they would tap additional resources and check wastage to ensure that enough funds are available for the social welfare schemes. The chief minister said they didn't intend to carry out a political witch hunt but an SIT will be formed to probe the "corruption sagas" of the Kejriwal and Atishi govts.

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