Key Points:
- Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday launched the ‘Red Light On, Gaadi Off’ initiative.
- This is to tackle the problem of rising air pollution in the national capital.
- Switching off vehicle engines will not only stop pollution but also result in saving of ₹7,000 per vehicle every year, Kejriwal said
- The CM appealed to all motorists to be a part of the campaign.
The nation’s capital is under smog as every year. To tackle the problem of rising air pollution, the Arvind Kejriwal government on Thursday launched an initiative. This is to stop Delhi’s air quality that slid to “very poor” category, to depreciate to emergency levels.
Red light on, gaadi off.
Delhi starts this today as a part of our campaign “Yudh, pradushan ke virudh” in our bid to tackle pollution.
Lets all pledge to turn off our vehicles at red lights. Every single effort will contribute in reducing pollution.
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 15, 2020
The initiative is named “Red Light On, Gaadi (Car) Off” which has been launched under the ‘Yuddh, Pradushan Ke Viruddh’ campaign of the Delhi government.
“‘Yudh, pradushan ke virudh’ in our bid to tackle pollution. Let’s all pledge to turn off our vehicles at red lights. Every single effort will contribute to reducing pollution,”
said Kejriwal appealing to all the vehicle users in the city.
Mr. Kejriwal said the “Red light on, gaadi (car) off” campaign could lead to a noteworthy drop in pollution levels even if 10% of the total vehicular users of the city participated in the campaign.
“There are 1 crore vehicles registered in Delhi; scientists have told me that even if 10 lakh vehicles switch their engines off at red light signals it can massively reduce both PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels per year,”
he also said.
The Chief Minister said that waiting at the signal with the engine on, consumes more fuel than a regular drive.
“On average, a car is left idling for around 15 to 20 minutes a day, and that ends up exhausting at least 200ml of fuel. According to the experts, by avoiding idling, one can save ₹7,000 per year,” Kejriwal added.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appealed to all vehicle’s drivers: trucks, cars, motorists, to participate in the campaign to help reduce pollution. The massive awareness campaign will be launched in the city in the upcoming days. Kejriwal said, “Covid-19 has led to distress among people, let’s ensure that pollution doesn’t make things worse for us.”
While waiting on a traffic signal, we must switch our vehicles off. Launching another initiative to tackle air pollution in Delhi | LIVE https://t.co/CCNIdHgbHJ
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 15, 2020
During the release, he also said that the campaign is the best the city can do locally as of to reduce the pollution and not much can be done with neighbouring States.
