
New Delhi: The Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and adjoining areas reviewed the progress of switching over of industries operating in Delhi to Piped Natural Gas (PNG) with the Government of NCT of Delhi, Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) and Indraprastha Gas Limited. About 1,644 of Industrial Units spread across 50 industrial areas in Delhi had been identified to switch over to Piped Natural Gas (PNG). Though sizeable number of industries are using PNG, the Commission stressed on the need to switch over to PNG by all identified industries in Delhi, considering the fact that industrial sector is one of the major contributors to air pollution in Delhi and National Capital Region.
Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) and Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) were impressed upon to complete the pipeline network, metering and associated infrastructure.
State-run IGL, Delhi Pollution Control Committee and the Delhi government were also asked to work in close coordination with the industrial units so as to target completion of infrastructure works and complete the switch-over to PNG by all the identified industrial units in Delhi, by January 31, 2021. DPCC was also directed to inspect and identify the industries using unapproved fuels and to take stringent penal action in case of non-compliances.
The air quality in Delhi, the capital territory of India, according to a WHO survey of 1,650 world cities, is the worst of any major city in the world. A study that appeared in the Lancet recently said that the state suffered the highest per-capita economic loss due to air pollution last year.
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