As pollution levels in Delhi-NCR on Monday morning were recorded around eight to 10 times above the Government-prescribed safe limit, the Delhi Government on Monday banned construction of public projects and works involving public utilities such as roads, flyovers, overbridges, power transmission, and pipeline installations that were previously exempted under GRAP-IV. “Furthermore, within Delhi, there is no exemption for any kind of construction or demolition activity. The Chief Minister has directed a ban on all such activities within Delhi,” said Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai while addressing a press conference.
Delhi's air quality ranks among the worst in the world's capital cities. The national capital is the top in the list of most polluted cities of the world for the third consecutive day. To protect the health of schoolchildren, the government also decided to suspend in-person classes in all schools, except for students in grades X and XII preparing for board exams, until November 10.
According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR)-India, the current air quality index has now touched the last stage of the index to ‘severe plus’ with an AQI exceeding the 500 mark. The air quality early warning system, predominant winds were coming from northwest direction with a speed four to six kilometre per hour for few hours during daytime but calm winds prevailed rest of the day. The air quality is likely to be in the severe category from Tuesday to Thursday.
Earlier on Monday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal held a meeting with senior officials of his government to review the implementation of an action plan to control air pollution in winter.
The city's 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI), recorded at 4 pm daily, stood at 421 on Monday, a marginal improvement from 454 on Sunday, even as a toxic haze persisted over the city for the seventh consecutive day. Anand Vihar recorded AQI at 615 in the noon. Dwarka recorded 516, PGDAV college 475; RK Puram 412,
The Delhi Fire Services (DFS) has started sprinkling water at 13 hotspots to curb rising air pollution in the city. The identified pollution hotspots are Narela, Bawana, Mundka, Wazirpur, Rohini, RK Puram, Okhla, Jahangirpuri, Anand Vihar, Punjabi Bagh, Mayapuri and Dwarka, DFS Director Atul Garg said. These hotspots were identified based on the annual average concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 in these areas, Garg said.
Several cities in neighbouring Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh have also reported hazardous air quality. Neighbouring Ghaziabad (391), Gurugram (713), Noida (384), Greater Noida (420), and Faridabad (412) also reported hazardous air quality.
According to the Ministry of Earth Sciences' Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi-NCR, the region is likely to experience severe air quality for another five to six days. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), conditions favourable for dispersion of pollutants are likely to develop Tuesday night onwards under the influence of an upcoming western disturbance, weather systems that originate in the Mediterranean region and bring unseasonal rainfall to northwest India.
Sharing a data about the actions taken by the government, Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai said the Transport Department and Traffic Police have conducted campaigns to check Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates. A fine of Rs 10,000 is imposed for violating PUC norms, and 28,471 fines have been issued to vehicles during the periods of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) levels I, II, and III. This has helped in controlling vehicles that contribute to pollution in Delhi. Moreover, an Anti-Dust campaign was conducted in Delhi, where 12,769 construction sites were inspected. Violations of norms were found at 324 locations, resulting in fines of around Rs 74 lakhs. Complaints related to the increase in pollution have been received through the Green Delhi app. From October 3 until now, 1,646 complaints have been registered, and 1,581 of these complaints have been resolved with the cooperation of various departments.
Rai added that additionally, 233 Smog Towers have been installed at various projects, and 106 Anti-Smog Guns have been installed on government buildings to control pollution. Mobile Anti-Smog Guns have been spraying water on the roads at 192 locations.
“Various teams have been deployed for different tasks, such as addressing open burning, checking vehicle emissions, and enforcing restrictions on fireworks. In total, 611 teams are working in the field to address open burning, 385 teams are checking vehicle emissions, and 210 police teams have been formed to control the use of firecrackers. Furthermore, 82 MRTs (Multi-Tasking Resource Vehicles) are cleaning the roads through water sprinkling and cleaning. An additional 345 water sprinklers from various departments are working on the roads to mitigate pollution in different areas.
The concerted efforts include the installation of 233 Smog Guns at different project sites and 192 Mobile Anti-Smog Guns spraying water on the roads. Additionally, 106 Anti-Smog Guns have been installed in various government buildings to combat pollution,” he said.
On Sunday, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) decided to invoke Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in the entire NCR with immediate effect - in addition to all actions under Stages I, II, and III.
GRAP is a set of emergency action plans implemented in four stages depending on the severity of the air pollution - which is determined by the air quality index (AQI). Under Stage IV of GRAP, only CNG, electric, and BS VI-compliant vehicles from other states are allowed to enter Delhi. Exemptions are granted only to those involved in essential services.
All medium and heavy goods vehicles not engaged in essential services are also banned in the capital, according to the latest CAQM order.
