Air quality still ‘severe’ in Gurugram but state yet to order more stringent curbs

The Indian Institute of Meteorology in its forecast said the overall air quality in Delhi-NCR is likely to improve from “severe” to “very poor” category over the weekend. The air quality is likely to remain in the “very poor” category from next Tuesday for six days, it said

The air quality in the city continued to remain in the “severe” category on Friday for the second consecutive but Haryana government is yet to impose fresh restrictions to curb the rising pollution.

The Gurugram-Sohna elevated road on smoggy Friday morning. The city’s air quality index was 416 on Friday. (Parveen Kumar/ HT)

The average 24-hour air quality index (AQI) in Gurugram on Friday was 416, in the “severe” zone, but ti was still an improvement from the AQI of 430 recorded on Thursday. The district administration said that it would take a call on more stringent measures on Saturday, but in neighbouring Delhi, the government lost no time in taking proactive measures on Friday, including the closure of primary schools, ban on entry of commercial trucks, and a ban on diesel vehicles that are not BS-VI compliant within Delhi.

The Gurugram district administration said it was keeping a close watch on the pollution situation, and a decision on implementing various measures under stage 4 of the graded response action plan (Grap) will be taken after factoring in all issues, and discussions with different agencies on Saturday.

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) late Thursday enforced stage four of Grap after the average AQI in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) entered “severe” category on Thursday.

Nishant Kumar Yadav, deputy commissioner, said a decision on further curbs will be taken on Saturday after discussions with the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB). “We have advised senior citizens and children to wear masks while stepping out and other changes will be announced depending on the air quality on Saturday. Our teams have been deployed across the city to check construction sites. Also, we have asked traffic police to penalise people driving polluting vehicles and to keep a check on petrol vehicles older than 15 years and diesel vehicles older than 10 years,” he said.

Even as Haryana government and district administration remained ambivalent about more stringent curbs, the Delhi government on Friday closed all industrial units not running on PNG, stopped construction at infrastructure projects, asked 50% of its staff to work from home and ordered closure of primary schools.

The air quality experts said low wind speed coupled with lower mixing height over Delhi-NCR has led to major concentration of pollutants over the region, due to which the air quality continued to remain in the severe category in Gururgam as well as other NCR towns such as Noida and Ghaziabad.

The air quality experts also said there has been significant rise in farm fire counts in Punjab and Haryana, which was contributing significantly to the air pollution in Delhi-NCR. The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM)said there will be a slight improvement in AQI on Saturday with AQI moving from “severe” to “very poor” category.

The IITM said the fire counts observed on Wednesday was 3,634 in Punjab and 166 in Haryana.

They said wind is coming from the north/north-west direction towards Delhi, and bringing with it pollutants from stubble burning. The increased level of humidity in the morning and gradual dip in temperature are causing a buildup of smog in the early morning hours, experts said.

“There is not much change expected in the AQI in the coming three days but from Sunday night, a change in wind direction is expected that can bring some temporary relief. There has been an increase stubble burning and also pollution from local sources have accumulated over the region and is not dissipating due to lack of strong winds,” said Sachin Panwar, city based air quality expert.

The Indian Institute of Meteorology in its forecast said the overall air quality in Delhi-NCR is likely to improve from “severe” to “very poor” category over the weekend. The air quality is likely to remain in the “very poor” category from next Tuesday for six days, it said.

The civic agencies in Gurugram said that they are increasing enforcement at construction sites and also monitoring industrial areas for violations.

Subash Yadav, additional CEO, GMDA and nodal officer, pollution, said there was a ban on construction activities.“All enforcement authorities concerned have been asked to increase monitoring so that compliance can be ensured. Active support from public is also requested,” he said.

The department of town and country planning said they have issued notices to 14 plot owners in DLF-2 and Palam Vihar’s C2 block on Thursday for carrying out construction work.

“A notice has been issued to the owners of 14 properties in Palam vihar and DLF-2, as they were still carrying out construction work at site, even after the Grap orders. A fine of ₹50,000 has been imposed on each plot owner,” said Amit Madholia, district town planner, enforcement.

The health department asked residents to avoid the outdoors early morning as pollution usually peaks then. It also asked people to wear masks and avoid strenuous activity in view of the high PM2.5 and carbon dioxide levels.

SS Rohilla, spokesperson, MCG said that 11 fines were issued for different violations such as dumping construction waste, burning coal in tandoors, keeping building material uncovered and carrying out construction. “We are closely watching markets and construction sites to ensure violations don’t take place,” he said.