Chief minister Rekha Gupta said enforcement alone would not bring lasting behavioural change unless residents were offered affordable and convenient alternatives TOI Ideas for India 2nd edition award ceremony, held in Delhi
Her govt, CM said, is supporting startups and innovations, offering up to Rs 10-crore collateral-free loans to MSMEs and new businesses, and urging innovators to come up with ideas to address waste management issues in the city. We have begun developing the waste processing capacity of up to 15,000 metric tonnes. Lakhs of cattle in Delhi generate around 2,000 tonnes of cow dung daily. Highlighting technology-driven enforcement, Gupta said three automated testing stations had been established, which could conduct fitness tests of approximately 2.5 lakh commercial vehicles annually.
Calling waste management the real problem rather than the overflowing landfills, CM said, “Because waste was not being managed properly, the amount of garbage generated every day was not being processed in the same quantity. New Delhi: Delhi’s battle against pollution cannot be won through seasonal measures or by tackling individual sources in isolation, chief minister Rekha Gupta said Thursday.
Calling the city’s three key challenges — pollution, garbage mountains and Yamuna contamination — interconnected, Gupta said they required sustained interventions rather than short-term responses. Addressing The Times of India’s Ideas for India Summit, CM said Delhi should be known for solutions, not problems, and underlined her govt’s push for waste management, electric mobility, rooftop solar and Yamuna rejuvenation, among others, to solve the city’s “legacy problems”. You will have to take action on everything collectively, at the same time,” she said. Waste could generate wealth too, Gupta said.
“Pollution is not a seasonal problem, and solution can be found only when work is done round the year, and we will have to work simultaneously on all the sources of pollution. It cannot be that you take action against dust but leave smoke unaddressed. “Before our govt, there was not a single biogas plant in Delhi. We have established three biogas plants in one-and-a-half years. We are steadily succeeding in preventing the cow dung that used to flow through drains into Yamuna and pollute the river.