OREANDA-NEWS. April 14, 2015. A three-month action plan has been formulated to combat pollution for the National Capital Region. Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Independent Charge, Shri Prakash Javadekar stated this after convening a meeting of Ministers and officials of National Capital Region at Paryavaran Bhawan, Jor Bagh, here today. Today’s meeting was attended by Ministers of Delhi and Haryana and officers from Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh state governments. All the municipal agencies and Delhi Police were also present at the meeting. The next such meeting is scheduled to be held in July.

Shri Javadekar said that National Thermal Power Corporation, NTPC, has decided to convert Units IV and V of Badarpur Plant with retro-fitting, which will reduce emission load from two-thirds to one-thirds. NTPC has also decided to phase out Units I, II and III in a time-bound manner. He also added that the Centre is forming rules for handling construction and demolition waste.

The Minister said that Rajasthan is taking effective steps to manage construction and demolition waste and will inspect the fuel quality being used in industrial units in Bhiwadi. Similarly, in the NCR region, Haryana government will ensure that only BS IV norms are registered, Shri Javadekar stated. Shri Javadekar also said that directions for non-burning of biomass have been issued. He also announced that New Delhi Municipal Corporation, NDMC, is coming out with the first plant for plasma gasification in Asia. This facility will treat polluting material and convert it into gas.