New Delhi, Sep 30 (PTI) Air pollution "shouldn't be viewed as seasonal crisis" and "more solutions to tackle stubble burning" are required in the national capital, environmentalists said after the Delhi government announced the winter action plan to curb air pollution in the city.

Environmentalist Bhavreen Kandhari said there are enough plans to tackle pollution but the "action on the ground is missing".

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"Most of the points mentioned in the action plan of Delhi government have been repeated from last year. The government and authorities should rather introspect as to what worked and what didn't," Kandhari told PTI.

She further stated that the government has "not come up with solutions" to tackle stubble burning.

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"How will the air pollution levels reduce when there is no efficient public transport system, three trees are cut in an hour with due permissions and there is a failed tree transplantation process?" Kandhari asked.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday announced a 15-point Winter Action Plan, including setting up teams to check garbage burning, dust and vehicular emission, to curb air pollution in the national capital, while calling for a coordinated effort between neighbouring states, the Centre and the city government.

Greenpeace India's Avinash Chanchal said that air pollution is "all year round problem" in Delhi.

"Every year the Delhi government announces such action plans, but it becomes more of a rhetoric than an actual action plan at the ground level. Although every winter Delhi witnesses a huge spike in air pollution levels due to meteorological changes and episodic events like stubble burning with other permanent contributors like transport, waste, industry, we need to stop viewing air pollution crisis as a 'seasonal' or just a winter crisis," Chanchal told PTI.

He further stated the pollution levels in Delhi are "consistently above the national ambient air quality standards" throughout the year.

"It is imperative to adopt a holistic and long-term solution to improve the air quality in the city. The plan needs to address the consistent major contributors like emissions from vehicular, power, industry, waste and other sectors which exist throughout the year," he said.

Announcing the Winter Action Plan, Kejriwal said the government will spray bio decomposer for free to tackle stubble with the coverage area to be increased from 4,000 acres to 5,000 acres this year.

The government's anti-dust campaign will begin from October 6 with 586 teams being formed for regular inspection of construction sites to ensure compliance. The government has already announced a ban on production, storage, distribution and purchase of firecrackers and 210 teams have been formed for surveillance.

"It is good to see government's communication on actions to be taken under various air quality categories during the winter but these are actions under Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) and GRAP is enforced in the region year around. So, the stipulated actions should anyways have been taken irrespective of winter or summer," an analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), Sunil Dahiya, said.

He further stated that the governments and authorities "should also act on" polluting coal-based power plants as they contribute a significant amount of pollution in Delhi and wider National Capital Region.

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