New Delhi: With Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) reaching a level of 441, making it the second-most polluted city in the country, the central pollution watchdog Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Sunday announced it was invoking Stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), in addition to all actions under Stages 1, 2 and 3, in Delhi-NCR from 8 am on Monday, November 18.
The anti-pollution measures under Stage 4 of GRAP include stopping the entry of most truck traffic into Delhi, except for trucks carrying essential commodities and providing essential services. All LNG/CNG/electric/BS-VI diesel trucks shall, however, be permitted to enter the city.
It also entails a ban on diesel-run medium and heavy goods vehicles registered in Delhi (BS-IV or below), except those carrying essentials.
Under Stage 4, Light Commercial Vehicles ((LCVs) registered outside Delhi will not be permitted, other than EVs/CNG/BS-IV diesel, to enter Delhi, except those with essential commodities and providing essential services.
Other measures include a ban on construction and demolition activities, as in the GRAP Stage-3, and also for linear public projects such as highways, roads, flyovers, overbridges, power transmission, pipelines, telecommunications, etc.
Under Stage-4 of GRAP, NCR state governments and the Delhi-NCT government may take a decision on discontinuing physical classes for Classes 6 till 9, and Class 11, and conduct lessons in the online mode. It also allows NCR state governments and the Delhi government to take a decision on allowing public, municipal and private offices to work at 50 per cent strength and the rest to work from home.
Delhi chief minister Atishi announced in a tweet that physical classes will be discontinued for all students, except for those in Class 10 and 12, who have board examinations ahead. All schools will hold online classes till further orders, the CM said.
Meanwhile, the city’s 24-hour Air Quality Index (AQI), recorded at 4 pm daily, stood at 441, in the “severe” category. On Saturday, the AQI was 417.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), a “severe” AQI poses risks to healthy individuals and severely impacts those with pre-existing health conditions.
Four cities in the country recorded AQI in the “severe” category. Bahadurgarh in Haryana topped the list with an AQI of 445, followed by Delhi (441), Bhiwani in Haryana (415) and Bikaner in Rajasthan (404), according to the CPCB data.
Of the 40 monitoring stations in the national capital, data from 34 provided by CPCB showed that 32 stations recorded the air quality in the “severe” category, with AQI levels of above 400.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea seeking enforcement of measures to curb air pollution in the national capital. As per the cause list of November 18 uploaded on the apex court website, a bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Augustine George Masih will hear the plea. The top court had on November 14 agreed to urgently list the plea after it was told that Delhi should not become the most polluted city in the world due to the rising pollution.
As part of an ongoing drive to address deteriorating air quality in Delhi, the transport department impounded 2,234 overage vehicles between October 1 and November 15. The seized vehicles include 260 diesel four-wheelers that are over 10 years old, alongside 1,156 petrol two-wheelers and 818 petrol three and four-wheelers, all older than 15 years. The campaign is set to continue until December.
According to official data, vehicular emissions contributed around 15.8 per cent to Delhi’s pollution on Sunday. The system also reported that stubble burning was the main contributor to the city’s air pollution on Saturday, accounting for 25 per cent of total pollution.