Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena on Monday directed authorities to take measures to control dust pollution on the Red Fort-Millennium Park stretch on the Ring Road. The direction came during an inspection by Mr. Saxena, during which he found several anti-dust pollution measures on the busy stretch to be inadequate.

Walking down from Red Fort, past Rajghat, ITO, thermal power plant, and I.P. Estate till Millennium Park near Sarai Kale Khan, the L-G found that mechanical road sweepers were merely displacing dust and that they were not followed by water sprinklers as per the norm, a Raj Niwas official said.

‘It was also found that the pavements and streets were covered with layers of dust. Deposits of loose silt at several places along the road were being dispersed by passing vehicles, causing even more pollution. Taking note of this, the L-G directed the officials to clean these spots immediately,’ the official said.

Delhi’s air quality showed a marginal improvement on Monday. However, the air pollution levels continued to remain as high as eight times the safe standards.

Mr. Saxena also directed the Transport Department and the Delhi police to ensure that vehicles prohibited under Stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), a set of emergency measures is taken to control air pollution, are not allowed to ply on roads.

He asked officials to maintain a vigil on the border checkpoints to prevent the entry of polluting vehicles from other States.

Mr. Saxena also urged people to use public transport as much as possible.

Meanwhile, Mayor Shelly Oberoi held a meeting of the Deputy Commissioners of all 12 zones of MCD and directed them to ensure compliance with the GRAP Stage 4 measures announced on Sunday.

A fund of ₹12 lakh has been allotted to each zone for measures to mitigate dust pollution.