Delhi’s air quality remains poor

Separately, environment minister Gopal Rai launched a month-long anti-dust campaign on Saturday, which will go on till November 7

Delhi’s pollution levels remained in the “poor” zone for the second consecutive day on Saturday, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) reading of 216 — a marginal deterioration from Friday’s reading of 212, according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s national bulletin.

An MCD tanker sprinkles water in Delhi on Saturday. (HT Photo)

The AQI dropped to the “poor” zone on Friday — the first time in 114 days — prompting the initiation of Stage 1 restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) related to construction activities, diesel generator sets, and checks on Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates by vehicles. Annual factors like a dip in temperatures, a drop in wind speed and increasing farm fires in neighbouring states lead to worsening air quality in the city.

Separately, environment minister Gopal Rai launched a month-long anti-dust campaign on Saturday, which will go on till November 7.

Rai visited the Wazirpur area on Saturday, which is one of the 13 pollution hot spots, and conducted a surprise inspection of the measures being taken to improve air quality. Officials said the main factors that contributed to pollution in the area were illegal parking, traffic congestion, and the ongoing construction work near the road.

“I asked officials to ensure that water is sprinkled on the road in the morning and evening. It is necessary to follow the 14 rules related to construction dust control at all construction sites. Teams will take strict action if the rules are not followed. For this, instructions have been issued to the departments to constantly monitor the construction sites,” said Rai.

Meanwhile, the AQI remained “poor” in the NCR cities as well including Ghaziabad, Noida and Greater Noida—with Greater Noida recording the highest AQI figure of 290. The AQI remained in the “moderate” category at 172 in Gurugram and 198 in Faridabad. The average air quality is expected to remain “poor” for the next couple of days as well.

The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and the state environment department have jointly identified 103 critical sources of local pollution across 13 hot spots in the city, fixing which, officials said, will be a priority this winter.

Rai said that they have made separate action plans for 13 hot spots, being monitored continuously from the Green War Room.

Under the anti-dust campaign, 591 teams from 13 departments have been deployed across Delhi, officials said, including the Delhi Development Authority, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, DPCC, Delhi Jal Board, Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation, Public Works Department, revenue department, CPWD, and New Delhi Municipal Corporation. To control pollution, 82 mechanical road sweeping machines, 530 water sprinklers and 258 mobile anti-smog guns have been deployed across Delhi.

With Grap in place, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has advised the public to follow the citizens’ charter, a set of guidelines to help reduce air pollution. This includes keeping engines properly tuned, having their PUC up to date, and ensuring no idling of vehicles at red lights. Citizens are also encouraged to plant more trees, not to dump waste in the open and to not ply using end-of-life vehicles, it said.