Prime Minister’s Office sets up panel to address air pollution issues in Delhi

NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister’s Office has set up a panel chaired by Niti Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar to draw up plans to address air pollution in the Capital and other city-specific issues.

The panel — which includes principal scientific advisor (PSA) K VijayRaghavan and Tarun Khanna of Harvard Business School — will submit its report to the Prime Minister in two weeks. It also has Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar and major general Madhuri Kanitkar as members.

The committee will coordinate efforts by over 40 research institutes to find solutions to problems affecting New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune, a senior government official told ET. “The report would suggest ways to raise resources to tackle issues confronting these cities,” the official said on condition of anonymity.


Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology and Delhi University are among entities roped in to find ways to curb rising pollution levels in the Capital, said another person privy to the matter. “Delhi’s hazardous pollution level is the top priority at this point and will be followed by policy prescriptions to control traffic congestion in Bengaluru, among others,” the person said.

The PSA’s office will move a Cabinet note to seek approval for implementing the report. “If four to five cities get together at the human resource level on collaborative projects and on national and global missions, then we can have research as powerful as the best institutions in the world,” VijayRaghavan said. However, he refused to divulge details, saying the report is yet to be finalised.