Delhi chokes in very poor air

Delhi’s air quality remained ‘very poor’ for the fourth consecutive day on Friday and is forecast to deteriorate to the ‘severe’ category, while long queues were seen outside pollution under control centres on the second day of the ‘No PUC, No Fuel’ enforcement drive in the city. Official data showed that in the past 24 hours, enforcement teams have issued around 11,776 challans against polluting and non-compliant vehicles as part of an aggressive crackdown on emission sources across Delhi.

Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood on Friday announced that air purifiers will be installed in 10,000 classrooms to ensure clean air for the students. Addressing a press conference, Education Minister Ashish Sood said that there are 38,000 classrooms, and air purifiers will be installed in them in a phased manner. “We want our children to study smart and also breathe smart air. In the first phase, air purifiers will be installed in 10,000 classrooms. Tenders have been floated today itself,” he added.

Official data shows there are 1,047 Government and Government-aided schools. The minister, who also holds the urban development portfolio, said the Public Works Department, using the environment cess, will also procure mechanical road sweepers for each of the assembly constituencies. Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, in a separate press conference, said that Citizen-centric governance continued through swift grievance redressal, with 57 complaints received via 311, Green Delhi App, SAMEER and social media addressed and resolved.

As part of measures to tackle worsening air pollution, authorities here have banned the entry of non-Delhi private vehicles below BS-VI standards and enforced the ‘No PUC, No Fuel’ rule. Official data showed that in the past 24 hours, enforcement teams have issued around 11,776 challans against polluting and non-compliant vehicles as part of an aggressive crackdown on emission sources across Delhi.

Even then, the 24-hour average AQI stood in the ‘very poor’ category at 374, marginally higher than 373 recorded a day earlier. Eleven of the 40 monitoring stations in the city have recorded ‘severe’ air quality, while 29 stations recorded AQI in the ‘very poor’ range. AnandVihar recorded the highest AQI at 430, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) SAMEER app.

Sirsa said the Government has adopted a multi-sector strategy combining enforcement, dust control, waste management, and vehicle regulation, which has led to a notable improvement in AQI levels compared to previous winters.

As part of the anti-pollution drive, 5,037 vehicles were checked at the national Capital’s border points between 8 pm on Thursday and 8 am on Friday to see if they met BS-VI norms. As many as 419 vehicles were returned, and 374 were prosecuted. Around 2,800 vehicles were identified without valid PUC certificates between 6 am on Thursday and 6 am on Friday, a senior Transport Department official said. Meanwhile, nearly one lakh pollution-related complaints have been registered with multiple civic and enforcement agencies in Delhi over the past five years, according to official data. A total of 99,435 pollution-related complaints were received till 11 am on December 18 this year, of which 86,984 were resolved, while 12,451 remain pending across various departments, according to data from the Green Delhi App compiled by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC).

A day after pollution-under-control (PUC) certificates were made mandatory for refuelling at petrol pumps, commuter awareness appeared to have improved, with many people producing the required documents without being asked. NischalSinghania, the president of the Delhi Petrol Dealers’ Association, said that queues at PUC certification centres remained unchanged, while fuel sales had taken a hit in some border areas. “Earlier, there was uncertainty about how long the ‘No PUC, No Fuel’ rule would continue. Now, it is clear that it will remain in force till GRAP-IV is in place. Sales have dipped in border areas.

Pump owners in Badarpur reported a decline yesterday, and the trend has continued,” he said.