Delhi-NCR continues to choke as air quality remains 'very poor'; 21 planned Metros to boost public transport

Pollution levels in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) continued to fall into the ‘very poor’ category on Thursday even as the authorities announced several steps to face an expected rise in pollutant levels to ‘severe’ or ‘very severe’ (hazardous) category in the coming week.

According to SAFAR, the overall PM10 level in Delhi on Thursday morning was 370 by the latest measure and the PM2.5 level was 215, both of which fall in the ‘very poor’ category. At 9 am on Thursday morning, the PM10 concentrate level was 404.2 whereas the PM2.5 level was 228.4 in Delhi-NCR.

In Anand Vihar, the AQI was recorded to be 841, the highest in the capital. Whereas it was at 708 in Mundka, 644 in Wazirpur and 630 in Rohini, according to CPCB data.  AQI levels are considered severe if they fall in the 401-500 range but for many parts in Delhi, the levels crossed the 500 mark.

As per the latest data on Thursday morning, Delhi’s Chandni Chowk, Dhirpur and Mathura Road areas recorded ‘severe’ levels of air pollution,  whereas, 13 areas in the capital city showed ‘hazardous’ Air-Quality Index (AQI) levels .

According to the agency, the levels are going to remain in the same range in the coming days. The forecast for Friday is 357 (PM10) and 197 (PM2.5).

The figures are slight improvement in air quality from Tuesday which saw the capital witnessing the worst air quality of the season.

The slight improvement in air quality on Wednesday happened after wind speed picked up and dispersed pollutants even though the stubble fire count increased. The overall air quality index of Delhi was recorded at 366 by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on Wednesday.

Delhi: Early morning visuals from the area near Rajpath. pic.twitter.com/uqQmjmEKvc

— ANI (@ANI) November 1, 2018

“Early morning winds picked up, which came as respite and dispersed particles rapidly and pulled back air quality towards very poor range,” an official with the Centre-run System of Air Quality Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) said on Wednesday. SAFAR further said AQI for the next two days would remain in “very poor” range but with an increasing trend.

“Air quality is likely to deteriorate on 3 November as a result of post westerly disturbances which are likely to hit over Western Himalayas today,” SAFAR had said on Wednesday. “Stubble fire count increased but as upper wind speed is slow it will only impact Delhi air marginally. Surface winds are again turning to be calm and favourable for stagnation,” it said.

In the NCR-region, Gurgaon recorded “severe” air quality at 416, while it was “very poor” in Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Noida and Greater Noida (on Wednesday). Ten areas in Delhi recorded “severe” air quality while 23 areas recorded “very poor” air quality, according to the CPCB data.

On Wednesday, the overall PM2.5 level was recorded at 215 in Delhi. PM 2.5 can be a matter of more serious health concern than PM10. And the PM10 level (particles in the air with a diameter of less than 10 micrometres) in Delhi stood at 370, according to the CPCB data.

On Wednesday, regional factors such as stubble burning contributed to 22 percent of PM2.5 pollution in the national capital, according to SAFAR. A thick pall of haze continued to engulf the national capital, and according to authorities, it would continue to hover over the city for the next three days.

EPCA announces measures, seeks public help

On Tuesday, Delhi had recorded the worst air quality of the season after pollution level turned severe at 401, prompting authorities to take several steps including banning construction activities along with halting operations of industries using coal and biomass as fuel between 1-10 November, as well as seeking public’s help.

The Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority has urged Delhiites to reduce the use of private vehicles for the first 10 days of November and use public transport when the air quality of the national capital is expected to further deteriorate. Noting that private vehicles contribute to 40 percent pollution in Delhi-NCR, the EPCA said on Tuesday that in case of further deterioration of air quality, they are even contemplating regulating the use of private vehicles from 1 November .

The EPCA has also urged people to not use private diesel vehicles in this period, as this will add to the pollution burden. “Ensure that we do not burn garbage and we report all instances of garbage burning and other pollution carefully and responsibly on the CPCB Facebook/Twitter accounts. It is essential that we control local sources of pollution at this time so that the crisis is managed,” it said in a statement.

Delhi Metro starts 21 additional trains

The Delhi Metro too pressed into service 21 additional trains on its network to provide 812 additional number of trips daily, officials said on Wednesday. The move came on a day when the 17.8-kilometre-long Shiv Vihar-Trilokpuri-Sanjay Lake section of the Pink Line was opened for passengers, that will have three interchange facilities.

“Keeping in view the worsening of air quality in Delhi-NCR, the Delhi Metro has introduced 21 additional trains on its network on 31 October, which will provide 812 additional number of trips per day,” a Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) spokesperson said. “This includes 14 trains with 730 trips on Shiv Vihar-Trilokpuri-Sanjay Lake section of Line-7. With these additional trips, the DMRC for the first time will be running 4,831 trips in a day, the highest ever so far,” the spokesperson said.

CPCB asks public to report incidents of pollution

Guidelines have also been put by the CPCB for the public to file complaints of air pollution in Delhi-NCR on its social media page, website and through its mobile app. The CPCB has listed a number of ways through which the public can lodge their complaints. These include posting complaints on the official page of the CPCB on Facebook and Twitter, filing them through its official website or the Sameer app developed by it.

On 29 October, the apex court had directed the CPCB to immediately create a social media page on which citizens could lodge their complaints regarding pollution directly “to be acted upon by the task force responsible for implementation of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)”.

The GRAP is an emergency plan implemented to combat pollution from 15 October. The plan includes measures depending upon the air quality of the city. The minister said they have received no official communication from the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) regarding the regulation of private vehicles.

Coal, biomass powered industries to remain shut till 10 November

The EPCA had earlier accepted the recommendation of a CPCB-led task force for the period between 1-10 November when further deterioration of air is expected due to festival season and stubble burning in neighbouring states. To contain the impact, the EPCA has ordered shutting down all stone crushers and hot mix plants generating dust pollution in Delhi and other NCR districts from 1-10 November. It also said that all industries using coal and biomass as fuel will stop functioning in Delhi and other NCR districts from 4-10 November. On 15 October, the EPCA had banned use of diesel generator (DG) sets in Delhi as well as closed the Badarpur Power Plant in Delhi.

The EPCA has also written to state governments of Haryana, Punjab and Delhi to close down brick kilns in NCR from 1-10 November. The industrial area of Mundka will remain closed from 1-10 November so that all the debris such as plastic, rubber and other waste is removed by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, based on the EPCA’s inspection and directions, it said.

Meanwhile, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has directed the state pollution control bodies of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi to start criminal prosecution against agencies or individuals who do not comply with directives to check air pollution.

Earlier, CPCB chairperson SP Singh Parihar had issued directions to construction agencies, municipal corporations and land-owning industries to comply with the directions of the NGT and the CPCB and ensure corrective actions within 48 hours in cases of air polluting activities are reported by the CPCB inspection teams.

“Failure to which will make the defaulting agencies and individuals liable to criminal prosecution which may be initiated by the CPCB under appropriate provision of the law,” a letter dated 29 October written by Parihar said.

Environment ministry warns strict action against violators

Last week, Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan had said the government had decided to initiate criminal prosecution against agencies which failed to comply with directives to check air pollution. The Environment Ministry’s decision had come after a review meeting with 41 teams of the CPCB deployed in Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida, Gurgaon and Faridabad found the compliance rate of the agencies concerned in following the directives was “very poor”.

Under the Environment Protection Act, there is a provision enabling regulatory agencies such as the CPCB and state pollution boards to proceed with criminal prosecution in such matters. The provision includes fines or imprisonment or both.

Govt says it’s ready, may revive Odd-even scheme

Meanwhile, the Delhi government said that it was “fully prepared” to combat the deteriorating air quality in the city with an emergency plan and implement the odd-even scheme when needed.

Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said the government is fully prepared to combat the rising pollution.“The Delhi government is fully prepared to take measures as per GRAP, including the odd-even scheme are concerned. We will take them when needed,” Gahlot said on Wednesday.

There are a total of 35 lakh private vehicles in the Delhi-NCR. In 2016, the odd-even scheme was enforced twice — 1-15 January and 15-30 April — in the city when vehicles having odd and even numbers were allowed to ply on alternate days.

With inputs from PTI