Dip in air quality likely, EPCA asks states to step up vigil

New Delhi: The Supreme Court mandated anti-pollution authority, Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) on Monday asked Delhi and NCR to step up surveillance and enforcement to check local sources of pollution and crop burning in view of a predicted dip in air quality in the next two-three days.

In a letter to the chief secretaries of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana, EPCA chairman Bhure Lal said that hot mix plants, ready mix plants, and stone crushers will continue to remain closed in Delhi-NCR.

The Supreme Court had, on November 4, banned construction and demolition activities in the region till further notice. “The air in the region has finally improved after days of dense and highly hazardous smog. This is the result of high winds and good ventilation index that we have seen over the past few days,” Mr Bhure Lal said.

However, he said the India Meteorological Department has alerted that the next few days — from Tuesday to Thursday — will witness slow wind speed and very little ventilation. Under such circumstances, dispersion of pollutants will not happen and there is a likelihood that the air quality will slip back into the “very poor” category and even the “severe” category, the EPCA chief said.

The situation will worsen if there’s light rain, which would be inadequate to wash away the pollutants and add to the moisture instead, he said.

The government will intensify its crackdown on those violating anti-pollution norms, environment secretary C.K. Mishra said on Monday. Mr Mishra made the comments at a press briefing after a high-level meeting with the chief secretaries of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh over severe air pollution in the northern states.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday there is no need for the Odd-Even road rationing scheme as the pollution levels in the city have come down now. The Delhi government brought the scheme on November 4 after the city’s air quality plunged into the “severe” category. “The sky is clear now, there is no need of it (scheme)”, he said at a press conference.