As the air quality in Delhi plummeted to the “very poor” category on Monday, the authorities in the National Capital Region banned the use of diesel generators, except for essential services such as hospitals and public transport.
On Monday, the daily average air quality index, or AQI, stood at 310, according to data from the Commission for Air Quality Management.
“There is a likelihood of the daily average AQI of Delhi staying in ‘very poor’ category in the coming days owing to unfavourable meteorological and climatic conditions,” the Union environment ministry said.
An index value between 0 and 50 indicates “good” air quality, between 51 and 100 indicates “satisfactory” air quality and between 101 and 200 indicates “moderate” air quality. As the index value increases further, air quality deteriorates. A value of 201 and 300 means “poor” air quality while between 301 and 400 indicates “very poor” air.
Between 401 and 450 indicates “severe” air pollution while anything above the 450 threshold is termed “severe plus”.
The authorities are also required to strictly enforce dust control measures at construction and demolition sites as per the restrictions under phase two of the Graded Response Action Plan, or GRAP, issued by the Commission for Air Quality Management Commission for Air Quality Management.
GRAP is a set of incremental anti-pollution measures that are triggered to prevent the further worsening of air quality once it reaches a certain threshold in the National Capital Region region.
Stage 1 of GRAP is activated when the AQI is in the “poor” category. The second, third and fourth stages are activated when the AQI crosses the “very poor”, “severe” category and “severe plus” category.
On Monday, restrictions were also imposed on the use of coal and firewood as well as diesel generator sets under the second stage of GRAP.
The ministry said that mechanical sweeping and water sprinkling on roads would be carried out on a daily basis. Vehicle parking fees would also be increased to discourage private transport, the statement said, adding that additional bus and metro services would be started.
The environment ministry urged residents to use public transport, utilise technology to take less congested routes and regularly replace air filters at recommended intervals in vehicles.
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