New Delhi: The toxic smog that engulfed Delhi last week and the persistent air pollution that comes with the onset of winter every year has the diplomatic community worried.
The Dean of Diplomatic Missions, Ambassador of Dominican Republic Frank Hans Dannenburg Castellanos, met the Chief of Protocol (COP), Sanjay Verma, on Friday to share the concerns of those residing in Delhi.
The officer of the Ministry of External Affairs assured him that, "the government of India is giving this matter top priority," according to a statement released by the Dean's office.
The Dean meets the COP on a regular basis with issues and concerns related to the diplomatic community. Friday's meeting, which lasted about 45 minutes, centered on pollution as the national capital has been under a spell of ‘severe’ pollution since last week. This was a repeat of the last year’s situation, Castellanos said.
Last year, many missions had decided to cut down the tenure of their staff in India due to pollution. Some missions have also allowed their staff to put in requests for curtailment of their tenure by up to a year due to the poor air quality in Delhi.
The Dean explained to the COP that the deteriorating air quality was affecting the daily operations of some of the Missions. He also said that it was impacting the inflow of tourists from their country.
The Chief of Protocol outlined the emergency measures put in place in view of the poor air quality and also said that “several new pro-active actions are under consideration of the government as we speak”.
He also said that while most of the causes of pollution were domestic, the situation was 'aggravated by a dust storm from a distant geography,' alluding to the Gulf region.
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