Graded action plan to fight NCR pollution

New Delhi: Two days before Diwali fireworks, the air quality in the capital turned “very poor” on Tuesday and Graded Action Response Plan (GARP) came into force in Delhi.

Some of the measures under the plan like banning of diesel generator sets in Delhi and shutting down of Badarpur Power Plant came into force from Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Delhi police has seized more than 1,200 kgs of  fire crackers and registered 29 FIRs across the city.

If the air quality continues to remain “very poor,” it could trigger an increase in parking fee for vehicles by three to four times, as per GARP. However, EPCA, a court-monitored committee which is seeing the implementation of the plan, said that measures like a hike in parking fee is difficult as no parking policies exist. Similarly, a ban on use of coal/firewood in hotels and open eateries in Delhi-NCR, which is under GARP, is difficult to implement outside Delhi.

Other measures which have been taken from Tuesday include closure of brick kilns, which have not converted to zig zag technology, monitoring of trucks that are not destined for Delhi and installation of continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations.

“In winter last year, we had a public health emergency when pollution levels rose due to various factors, following which the graded action response plan was brought. The aim of these measures is to ensure that the region does not have to impose emergency level measures,” said Sunita Narain, member, EPCA (Environmental Poll-ution Control Authority).

GARP enumerates various measures to be taken according to the category in which air quality is — moderate to poor, very poor, severe, severe plus or emergency.

If the air quality turns severe plus, measures like shutting  down of schools, stopping entry of trucks in Delhi except for essential commodities, stopping all construction activities, introducing odd-even scheme, etc will have to be brought in.

On Tuesday, the air quality index (AQI) for Delhi was recorded at 306, under the “very poor” category. As per SAFAR, under ministry of earth sciences, while PM (Particulate Matter) 10 was at 249 microgramme per cubic metre (ug/m3), PM 2.5 was at 137 ug/m3. The prescribed standard for both is 100 and 60 ug/m3 respectively.

Meanwhile, CPCB member secretary A. Sudhakar said that meteorological conditions on Friday, a day after Diwali, are not favourable and any emissions from fireworks are likely to get trapped in the air for a long time, causing air quality to deteriorate.

“The level of moisture in the air will shoot up on October 20. Speed of local wind movement, which plays a crucial role in dispersing pollutants, will also be low thus resulting in accumulation of pollutants,” CPCB member secretary A. Sudhakar said.