US envoy appreciates state’s pollution control measures

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 29

The United States (US) has appreciated the Haryana Government for various effective measures being taken for keeping a check on the air pollution caused due to vehicular traffic and stubble burning especially in the National Capital Region (NCR) and offered all technological expertise to effectively deal with this problem.

Kenneth I Juster, US Ambassador to India, who called on Chief Minister Manohar Lal here on Wednesday, said both Haryana and the US could work together on this issue of great importance which would go a long way in making the entire state pollution free.

This would be a great achievement, said Kenneth adding that he was confident that Haryana would emerge as a leader in this area. He also commended the government for declaring Haryana as kerosene-free and open defecation free state.

While welcoming Juster, Manohar Lal said the state government was quite serious on the issue of air pollution and had taken several steps in this direction. The thermal power plants are being converted into green energy plants and much is being done in the area of stubble burning. “We are soon going to launch a fleet of 200 buses of clean fuel in Gurugram under the city bus service scheme”, he said adding that the state government is also promoting CNG filling stations in the state.

The CM said recently he had dedicated Haryana’s first civil airport at Hisar to the people of the state. The state government plans to develop an aero space manufacturing hub at Hisar for which the Pratt and Whitney, an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations could provide its technology and expertise. He said during his visit to the US in 2015, the Pratt and Whitney had shown interest in developing research and development facilities in the state. Juster said the exchange of technology and expertise would further help strengthening the bilateral relations between the US and India, particularly Haryana.