NEW DELHI: A day after recording “severe” pollution, Delhi’s air quality improved slightly to “very poor” category on Wednesday after wind speed picked up and dispersed pollutants even though the stubble fire count increased. The Supreme Court-appointed EPCA has urged Delhiites not use private diesel vehicles and use public transport for the first 10 days of November when the air quality is likely to further deteriorate
Noting that private vehicles contribute to 40 per cent pollution in Delhi-NCR, the EPCA urged people to reduce use of private vehicles during this period and use public transport or other means.
All construction activities involving excavation and civil construction (excluding internal finishing/ work where no construction material is used) will be stopped in Delhi and other NCR districts from Thursday, in view of deteriorating air quality in the national capital.
In directions issued by the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA), all stone crushers and hot mix plants generating dust pollution will also stop functioning in Delhi and other NCR districts from Thursday.
It also ordered that all industries using coal and biomass as fuel will stop functioning in Delhi and other NCR districts from November 4-10, 2018. Industries that use natural gas as fuel can continue to operate. The order does not apply to power plants in NCR (except Badarpur) and waste to energy plants.
Brick kilns in NCR will be closed down from Thursday till November 10 and the EPCA has issued a letter to this effect to the states of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
On Wednesday, the air quality improved slightly and turned “very poor”, a day after recording “severe” pollution, as wind speed picked up early morning and dispersed pollutants.
The overall air quality index (AQI) of Delhi was recorded at 366, as per CPCB’s data.
Meanwhile, following the Supreme Court’s direction, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has put up guidelines for the public to file complaints of air pollution in Delhi-NCR on its social media page, website and through its mobile app.
Amid the deteriorating air quality in the national capital, the CPCB has also directed the state pollution control bodies of Punjab, Haryana, and Delhi to start criminal prosecution against agencies or individuals who do not comply with directives to check air pollution.
CPCB chairperson S.P. Singh Parihar has also issued directions to construction agencies, municipal corporations, and landowning industries to comply with the directions of the NGT and the CPCB and ensure corrective actions.
