Will write to EPCA, CPCB for shutting 11 coal-fired power plants near Delhi: Minister Gopal Rai

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Thursday said he will ask the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and a Supreme Court-mandated pollution control authority to shut the 11 coal-fired power plants operating within 300 kilometres of Delhi within a week.

Rai said the Delhi government has been making all efforts to bring pollution levels down, “but we become helpless when pollution from neighbouring states affects the city’s air quality”.

A layer of haze hung over Delhi and its neighbouring areas on Thursday and the air quality slipped to “very poor” levels. Delhi recorded an air quality index (AQI) of 315 at 11:10 am. The last time the air quality hit such a poor level was in February.