Delhi govt doing little to curb pollution: Environment Minister

Gandhinagar: In an apparent swipe at Arvind Kejriwal, Union Minister Anil Dave on Saturday alleged that those in Delhi government are doing little to curb pollution in the national capital and channelising more energy on rallies in Punjab, where polls are to be held next year.

"In Delhi, the situation is so alarming that emergency will have to be declared there. But people are engaged in holding rallies in Punjab, going here and there while skirting their duty," he said.

On energy conservation, the Union Environment Minister stressed on the need for self discipline among public, while highlighting "solar, cycle and recycle" as the three factors that he said will decide the future of the world.

"The future of the world is hidden in solar, cycle, and recycle. For a healthy society, cycling is needed. Solar is the future, because other sources of energy will end sooner or later. Solar energy is unlimited and comes at zero price," he said.

Dave said, over the years the amount of waste generated from households has increased and everybody should try to reduce carbon footprints by reducing waste generation.

"Today we are generating more electronic, plastic, and household waste. We should adopt what I call Gandhian way of environment, which is about taking only as much as you consume," he said.

Later, speaking to mediapersons, Dave said, three Gujarat Industrial Development Corporations (GIDC) at Ankleshwar, Vapi and Vatva have met technical requirements for removal of moratorium.

"In Gujarat, because of some special reasons, people did not remove moratorium on three industrial clusters (even as moratorium on other clusters were removed between 2010 and 2013)," he said.

"I saw that these clusters made around Rs 1,000 crore investment in the last two to three months and pollution level fell below permissible level. We removed restrictions after they were found to be technically sound," Dave said.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani also touched on the issue of pollution in Delhi, saying, "In Delhi, a situation was created because of which the city came to a standstill for five days. We have seen that. So, if we respect earth, it will respect us."