From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said the country is facing the crisis of coal and power for the past many months, but the Modi government did nothing to resolve it.
Instead, the Centre asked the states to import coal and started cutting down coal supply to them, he said and asked why the Centre is fooling the nation by making false claim to resolve the coal problem in eight years and supply of electricity for 24 hours.
Whose development the Modi government is planning by keeping the nation in the dark, Rahul asked.
Meanwhile, Delhi government on Wednesday decided to ban use of coal in industrial, domestic and other miscellaneous applications in the entire region of Delhi-NCR from January 1, 2023 to reduce air pollution.
The ban has been clamped by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM). The use of low-sulphur coal in thermal power plants has been exempted from the ban.
In an order issued on June 3, the CAQM said the ban on the use of coal will come in force with effect from October 1 in areas having PNG infrastructure and supply and from January 1, 2023 in areas where the PNG supply is still not available.
“In full effect, the use of coal as fuel shall be banned across NCR with effect from January 1, 2023,” the panel said.
Delhi is among the world’s most polluted capital cities. The capital and its adjoining cities-Gurugram, Noida and Ghaziabad observed a daily AQI at around the 300-400 level mark, which as per the pollution index is considered to be the most toxic air.
The environmental experts have listed various reasons behind the polluted air in Delhi-NCR of which burning of coal is one of them. Last year, during the early winters, the Delhi government had shut five coal-fired plants in order to combat air pollution.
