The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Sunday directed authorities to lift the ban on plying of non-BS VI diesel-run light motor vehicles in Delhi-NCR and entry of trucks into the Capital under the final stage of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). The restrictions were imposed three days ago.
The decision has come after the Delhi’s air pollution levels improved marginally and hovered around the lower end of the “very poor” category on Sunday primarily due to favourable wind speed and a drop in the contribution of stubble burning.
However, the Ghaziabad administration ordered to ban all private construction activities and close schools due to worsening air pollution.
In Delhi, the 24-hour average air quality index stood at 339 at 4 pm, dropping from 381 a day ago. It was 447 on Friday, according to the Central Pollution Control Board. It had jumped to 450 on Thursday, just a notch short of the “severe plus” category, prompting authorities to invoke the final stage of anti-pollution curbs, including a ban on non-BS VI diesel LMVs.
The areas in the national Capital which recorded an air quality index in the “very poor” category included Alipur with its AQI at 357, Shadipur at 321, NSIT Dwarka at 348, DTU Delhi at 306, ITO at 335, Sirifort at 351, Mandir Marg at 333, RK Puram at 365 and Aya Nagar at 333.
“As the present Air Quality Index (AQI) level of Delhi is around 339 which is about 111 AQI points below the threshold for invoking the GRAP Stage-IV actions (Delhi AQI > 450) and preventive/ mitigative/ restrictive actions under all stages up to Stage-IV are underway, there is a likelihood of sustaining the improvement in AQI. The forecast by IMD/ IITM also does not indicate any steep degradation further,” the CAQM said after a review meeting.
“The sub-committee, accordingly, hereby decides to revoke the order, issued vide dated November 3, 2022, for actions under Stage-IV of GRAP with immediate effect. The sub-Committee shall be keeping a close watch on the air quality scenario and may take appropriate decisions depending on the air quality, as recorded from time to time, and the forecasts made by IMD/IITM to this effect,” it added.
Actions under stages I to III of GRAP will, however, remain invoked and be implemented, monitored and reviewed by all agencies concerned in the entire NCR to ensure that the AQI levels do not slip further to the “severe” category.
GRAP stage IV is a stage of disruptive restrictions that impacts a large number of stakeholders and the public at large. There are no stricter measures, than as laid in GRAP Stage-IV, that could be taken to improve upon the air quality scenario, the commission said.
The CAQM had also directed the closure of all industries running on non-clean flues in the region, “even in areas which do not have PNG infrastructure and supply”. The number of farm fires in Punjab dropped sharply to 599 from 2817 a day ago, data from the Indian Agricultural Research Organisation (IARI) showed.
According to Safar, a forecasting agency under the Ministry of Earth and Sciences, the share of stubble burning in Delhi’s PM2.5 pollution also declined to 18 per cent from 21 per cent on Saturday.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann owned responsibility on Friday for paddy straw burning in the border State and promised to curb the practice by next winter. The number of stubble-burning incidents in Punjab rose by 12.59 per cent year-on-year to 26,583 in the last 50 days with a spurt in such cases after Diwali, according to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.
The hazardous pollution levels prompted the Delhi Government to announce on Friday that primary schools would remain shut from Saturday and 50 per cent of its staff will work from home, while private offices have been advised to follow suit. A six-member panel chaired by the special commissioner of transport has been set up to monitor the implementation of curbs on anti-polluting activities. Revenue commissioners have been asked to prepare a plan for staggered timings of markets and offices.
To reduce vehicular emissions, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai also appealed to the Uttar Pradesh and Haryana Chief Ministers to take measures to divert trucks carrying non-essential goods on peripheral expressways to avoid traffic jams at the Capital’s borders.