With sharp decline in pollution level in national Capital, the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) on Wednesday lifted the ban on diesel generator sets and coal-based power plants which had been banned in Delhi for the past five months.
Releasing its “Report Card” on pollution in the city, EPCA chairperson Bhure lal said, “This reduction in pollution levels shows that we can make a difference. But the air is not completely clean yet. We must not lose the momentum in our fight for clean air. We must not lose sight of the fact that right to breathe is fundamental.”
Improvement in air quality level in city from severe to very poor to moderate to poor category automatically removes restrictions imposed on the city under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) that includes closing the operation of diesel generator sets, widely used across city hotels, houses, and industry.
“Badarpur power plants can also function from March 1 onwards but only under condition that they will be permanently shut down from July 2018,” said Sunita Narain, Centre for Science and Environment chief and an EPCA member.
“The air in this region of the National Capital is so polluted and toxic, that all our combined efforts have reduced pollution merely from the severe-severe plus category to poor-very poor category,” pointed out Sunita Narain. “Remember, very poor category is still deadly,” she added.
While meteorological conditions are the main reasons behind Delhi’s air quality, the joint efforts of NCR Governments, the Union Environment Ministry, Petroleum Ministry and central and state pollution control boards have played a major role in improving the air quality by imposing certain restrictions for the first time.
These restrictions included a curb on construction activities, sprinkling of water, closure of brick kilns, ban on diesel generators and implementation of BS-IV fuel (April 2017 onwards). “These restrictions and maintaining of standards was not an easy task. Don’t underestimate these restrictions,” Bhure lal said.
The EPCA in October 2017 had imposed several restrictions under GARP, observing the deterioration in Delhi air which had then turned toxic and enveloped the city in a yellow blanket.
Schools were shut and outdoor activities were discouraged due to the sudden spike in pollution because of a combination of stubble burning in neighbouring states and certain meteorological conditions.