Arvind Kejriwal urged people to use face masks correctly as it is the best protection against COVID-19
New Delhi:
Like the previous two coronavirus waves, the third will end soon in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday, urging Delhi residents to make masking a move to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the middle of the holiday season and increased air pollution.
After inaugurating a PWD project to strengthen Rohtak Road in Mundka, he urged people to properly wear face masks as it is the best protection against COVID-19.
“Until there is a vaccine for the corona, consider the masks as the vaccine. These are the greatest protection against COVID-19 infection. We need to promote the use of masks as a movement,” he said.
Delhi is currently facing the third wave. In the first phase, the highest number of COVID-19 cases were reported and the inhabitants of Delhi helped reduce the numbers. Again, on September 17, there was a second increase, he said.
“In this third wave, I am very hopeful that the people of Delhi will continue to provide their support as always and it will come to an end soon,” he said.
Citing the arrival of 32,000 Indians from countries affected by the virus in March, as well as people from different parts of the country, he noted that Delhi was facing a difficult situation.
“Delhi did not start at zero in terms of the number of Covid cases, Delhi started in the thousands due to the lack of aggressive testing of people who flew on international flights,” said the Chief Minister.
On the issue of air pollution, he said air quality in Delhi remains good from January to mid-October, but then worsens due to stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Delhi has provided an alternative in the form of a chemical developed by the Pusa Institute that turns stubble into compost. Next year there should be no excuse from Punjab, Haryana and UP and stubble burning should stop, he said.
If necessary, the Delhi government or the Pusa Institute can deliver the chemical (biodecomponent) to states where the stubble is burned, he said.
PWD Minister Satyendar Jain said the strengthening of the 13.33 km stretch of Rohtak Road from Jakhira to the Delhi border is scheduled to finish in six months, but would ensure that efforts are made to complete it in four. months.
The Chief Minister said that the Delhi government has also previously completed several projects much ahead of time and at a lower cost, and the time and cost saving model will also be replicated in this project.
The total cost of the redevelopment project is Rs 25 million and it will be carried out using the latest cold milling technology, in which the top layer of the road will be recycled and reused, said an engineer from PWD.
The road was first built in 2011 and would be rehabilitated in 2016.
However, the project has now been taken over by the Delhi government from the Center due to the failure of the National Roads Authority to sanction the funds, according to a government statement.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
.
