New Delhi, Dec 24 : The air quality in the national capital deteriorated further on Saturday, falling in the ‘severe' category. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi recorded an AQI of 447 at 4 pm.
The Centre had ordered a ban on non-essential construction work and plying of BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel four-wheelers in the Delhi-NCR on Friday.
Haryana Transport Commissioner Yashendra Singh today announced restrictions on the plying of BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel light motor vehicles (LMVs) in Gurugram and Faridabad districts with immediate effect.
The restrictions will remain in place till January 7, 2024, or the revocation of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) Stage-III by the Commission on Air Quality Management (CAQM), whichever is earlier, he stated.
However, vehicles deployed in emergency services, police vehicles and government vehicles used for enforcement have been exempted.
According to the order of the Transport Commissioner, if any BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel four-wheeler is found plying in these two districts, the violators shall be prosecuted under Section 194 (1) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
The order has been issued in view of the deteriorating air quality in the NCR and the CAQM's review in this regard.
The commission's sub-committee invoked all actions as envisaged under the Stage-III of the GRAP ‘severe' air quality, in addition to all the actions under Stage-I and Stage-II of the GRAP with immediate effect on Friday.
“Keeping in view the prevailing trend of air quality and in an effort to prevent its further deterioration, the sub-committee decided that all actions as envisaged under the Stage-III of the GRAP –‘severe' air quality be implemented in right earnest by all the agencies concerned in the NCR,” said the commission's order dated December 22.
The air quality index (AQI) in the range of 0-50 is considered ‘good', 51-100 ‘satisfactory', 101-200 ‘moderate' and 201-300 ‘poor'. The AQI readings between 301 and 400 implies very poor air quality and prolonged exposure can cause respiratory illness. The AQI in the range of 401-500 falls in the ‘severe' category seriously impacts those with existing diseases and even cause problems for healthy individuals.
Meanwhile, the Centre on Saturday decided to hold off on implementing stricter measures to curb air pollution in Delhi-NCR, preferring to assess the effectiveness of the current actions.
Besides, the minimum temperature today was 9.6°C, two degrees above the season's average, while maximum temperature was 24.4°C, four degrees above normal, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Besides, the relative humidity oscillated between 97 and 69 per cent.
The IMD has predicted dense fog for Sunday, adding that the maximum and minimum temperatures will likely settle around 25°C and 7°C, respectively.
The Commission on Air Quality Management (CAQM) has attributed the sudden spike in Delhi's daily average AQI to unfavourable meteorological conditions – fog and haze accompanied by low wind speed.
Centre puts off GRAP Stage-IV norms
The Centre has decided to hold off implementation of stricter measures to curb air pollution in Delhi-NCR.
The Environment Ministry said a sub-committee of the CAQM reviewed the situation on Saturday.
The sub-committee decided to wait and observe the impact of GRAP Stage-III curbs, implemented a day ago, before considering more severe actions under Stage-IV, it added.
GRAP categorises actions into four stages: Stage I – Poor for AQI 201-300, Stage II – Very Poor for AQI 301-400; Stage III – Severe for AQI 401-450 and Stage IV – Severe Plus for AQI above 450.
