Kejriwal recommends suspension of DPCC Chairperson over air pollution

New Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday recommended the suspension of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee Chairman Ashwani Kumar to the concerned authority, in a move to expedite action on bureaucracy obstructing the government's efforts to fight rising pollution.

Sources said that the Chief Minister has written to the concerned authorities for his suspension.

The decision comes after the Supreme Court addressed the pollution issue earlier in the day and questioned the effectiveness of the Delhi government's odd-even car rationing scheme from November 13 to 20, which was announced to address the rising pollution levels in the city.

The top court also said that the smog tower installed in Delhi as per earlier order is not working, and called the same 'ludicrous' and asked for it to be repaired.

Calling schemes like 'odd-even' to tackle such an issue mere 'optics', the bench further directed the state governments to control the entry of orange-tagged vehicles.

The bench said that a large number of taxis in Delhi have registrations in different states that carry only one passenger. It also asked these to be monitored so that only Delhi taxis ply during the current period.

The matter is again listed on Friday.