If there is one challenge that haunts Delhi and its surrounding regions round the year (give and take a few breathable days), it’s air pollution. Post-Diwali, air quality takes an ugly turn because bad meteorological conditions, farm fires, and bursting of crackers (despite a Supreme Court ban) add to an existing set of causes such as vehicular and industrial pollution, construction dust, power plants, and burning of waste. Until now, a Graded Response Action Plan (Grap), a list of progressively
If there is one challenge that haunts Delhi and its surrounding regions round the year (give and take a few breathable days), it’s air pollution. Post-Diwali, air quality takes an ugly turn because bad meteorological conditions, farm fires, and bursting of crackers (despite a Supreme Court ban) add to an existing set of causes such as vehicular and industrial pollution, construction dust, power plants, and burning of waste. Until now, a Graded Response Action Plan (Grap), a list of progressively strict restrictions on activities that lead to pollution, was triggered in stages, as and when thresholds were crossed for two consecutive days. However, its impact was limited because it was a reactive process, and so, there was a longstanding demand for proactive set of rules that would kick in early. On Wednesday, the Commission for Air Quality Management released a new Grap, which promises to do just that.
In the revised plan, the pollution-control measures will be activated three days before the air quality is predicted to spike. This is possible because there is now a better early warning system, aided by the Decision Support System (DSS). The DSS considers multiple readings and observations, including pollution data from northern India and satellite data of aerosols and farm fires. Forecasts can be made up to 10 days. The new Grap has an airshed approach and will also focus on multi-pronged actions across different sectors contributing to pollution in the region. Unlike the previous version, which looked at PM2.5 or PM10 concentration to reach a particular threshold before taking action, the new one treats the air quality index as the trigger.
The refreshed Grap, with its airshed approach, targeted actions, and recommended timeline for sectors, is a welcome step, and encapsulates the discussion, debates, and deliberations that have happened all these years in the public space. But as with every policy, its implementation will be critical as it requires different agencies and technical institutions to work together. But the city and its neighbouring regions need a long-term solution, and to achieve that, it is critical to invest heavily in ecofriendly public transport, green buffers, solutions to reduce stubble burning, and greening the critical power sector. The national and city governments must not lose sight of these impediments that are putting the health of the citizens and the economy at severe risk.
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