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NEW DELHI: With pollution levels deteriorating, the Centre’s air quality panel on Saturday directed officials to ban construction and demolition activities. Delhi-NCRExcluding projects and other restrictions required under GRAP III.
While more anti-pollution measures kicked in, the AAP government and Lt Governor VK Saxena disputed a proposed campaign to encourage commuters to turn off engines at traffic signals, with the LG saying technical solutions and ad-hoc steps are not needed .
A thick layer of fog enveloped Delhi-NCR as the air pollution in the region nears “severe” area amid unfavorable meteorological conditions. Delhi’s 24-hour average air quality index stood at 397 at 4 pm, the worst since January. It was 354 on Thursday, 271 on Wednesday, 302 on Tuesday and 312 on Monday (Diwali).
In an emergency meeting on Saturday evening, the sub-committee of the Air Quality Management Commission (CAQM) said that due to adverse meteorological conditions and sudden increase in the incidence of farm fires, “It is considered necessary to implement Phase III of GRAP”. With immediate effect across NCR.
The Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) is a set of anti-air pollution measures in the capital and its surrounding areas according to the gravity of the situation.
It categorizes the air quality in Delhi-NCR into four distinct stages: Stage I – ‘poor’ (AQI 201-300); Stage II – ‘Very poor’ (AQI 301-400); Stage III – ‘Severe’ (AQI 401-450); and Stage IV – ‘Severe Plus’ (AQI>450).
Under Phase III, officials have been asked to impose strict restrictions on construction and demolition activities in the NCR, except for essential projects and non-polluting activities such as plumbing, carpentry, interior decoration and electrical works.
The construction ban will not apply to other projects including national security, defence, railways and metro rail. However, it is likely to affect housing projects in Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and other areas.
Mining activities will not be allowed in the area.
The next phase in the “severe plus” category or phase IV may include steps like banning the entry of trucks into Delhi, allowing 50 per cent employees in public, municipal and private offices to work from home, closing educational institutions and Huh. Driving of vehicles on odd-even basis etc.
On Saturday, Lieutenant Governor Saxena asked the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Sent the file back to reconsider the ‘red light on, train off’ campaign and question the effectiveness of such an “ad-hoc” measure.
Environment Minister Gopal Rai said the Delhi government will answer all the questions raised by the Lieutenant Governor and resubmit the file for his approval.
A source said the LG objected to the “inhuman” and “exploitative use” of civil defense volunteers (CDVs) at highly polluted traffic intersections and sites.
The LG has also highlighted that the “results” of previous campaigns are not reflected in the proposal and that no impact assessment reports have been provided to support the effectiveness of earlier campaigns to improve air quality in the city. .
“Moreover, any effective and sustainable solution to this long-standing problem will involve year after year technical interventions and not ad-hoc steps,” the LG said.
Rai will chair a high-level meeting on Sunday to discuss the measures to be implemented under Phase III of GRAP.
In its order issued on Saturday, the commission said that the states may ban the plying of BS III petrol and BS IV diesel four wheelers in the NCR in view of the poor air quality. This instruction is not binding on the officers.
SAFAR, a forecasting agency under the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, said the share of stubble burning in Delhi’s pollution rose to 21 per cent on Saturday, the highest so far this year.
SAFAR’s founding project director Gufran Baig said on Sunday it could rise to 40 percent.
Restrictions on construction and demolition activities include earthworks for excavation, boring and drilling; fabrication and welding operations; loading and unloading of building materials; Transfer of raw materials including fly ash, either manually or through conveyor belts and vehicular movement on unpaved roads.
It also prohibits the operation of batching plants; sewer lines, water lines, drainage works and electrical cabling through open trench systems; cutting and fixing tiles, stones and other flooring materials; grinding activities; piling work; waterproofing work; Road construction and repair work.
Brick kilns, hot mix plants and stone crushers not operating on clean fuel and mining and related activities in NCR have also been banned.
NCR officials have also been asked to shut down industries not running on approved fuel in industrial areas with PNG infrastructure and supplies.
In industrial areas that do not have PNG infrastructure and supplies, industries that do not use the approved fuel can operate only five days a week.
“Paper and pulp processing, distilleries and captive thermal power plants will remain dormant on Saturday and Sunday. Paddy/rice processing units will remain dormant on Monday and Tuesday,” it said.
Textile/Clothing and Apparel units including dyeing processes will remain inactive on Wednesdays and Thursdays. The CAQM order said that other industries not falling in these categories will remain inactive on Fridays and Saturdays.
However, milk and dairy units and those involved in manufacturing of life-saving medical equipment, medicines and drugs are exempted from the restrictions.
The measures are in addition to the preventive action already implemented under Phase I and Phase II of GRAP.
Calm winds are expected in the coming days and the wind direction is likely to change frequently. Thus, there is a high probability of the pollutants getting trapped in this area and not spreading effectively, the commission noted.
Last year, GRAP IV restrictions were imposed in November after declining air quality.
The Delhi government has proposed a month-long ‘Red Light On, Gaadi Off’ campaign aimed at encouraging drivers to switch off the ignition of their vehicles while waiting at traffic signals.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had earlier attacked the Lt Governor, alleging that the delay in clearing the proposal had forced him to postpone the launch of the campaign on October 28.
But sources in the LG office claimed that the city environment minister Gopal Rai had lied as the launch date was stated as October 31 in the file sent by the chief minister.
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