Delhi's air quality dipped to 'poor' category with an AQI of 212, as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) bulletin at 4 pm on Friday. Office of the Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said that in view of increasing pollution in winter, the AAP government in the national capital has enforced an anti-dust campaign under the Winter Action Plan. His office said the campaign will run from Oct 7-Nov 7. The office of the minister said that Rai will conduct a surprise inspection of hot spots in the Wazirpur area on Saturday at 12 noon on the first day of the anti-dust campaign.
According to Live Mint, a dip in temperatures, a drop in wind speed and increasing farm fires in neighbouring states have prompted an emergency meeting and rolling out of the initial pollution control measures in the national capital. This is the first time Delhi air has turned 'poor' since June 14, as per a TOI report.
With this, the first stage of the Centre's graded response action plan (GRAP) to check air pollution in Delhi came into place on Saturday. Now, visibly polluting vehicles will attract hefty fines. An NDTV report stated that trucks not destined for Delhi will be diverted through the eastern and western peripherals.
Stage 1 of the GRAP plan mandates the suspension of work at private construction and demolition projects with a plot size equal to or exceeding 500 sqm that is not registered on the state government's portal for remote monitoring of dust mitigation measures. Now, anti-smog guns will be employed at construction and demolition sites as well.
Several other measures have also been implemented including the stationing of traffic police at congested intersections and conducting regular mechanized cleaning and water spraying on Delhi's roadways.
"The dynamic model and meteorological forecasts by these agencies predict the overall AQI of Delhi will stay in the ‘poor’ category in the next few couple of days and so it is considered necessary to invoke Stage-I of GRAP with immediate effect in the entire NCR...," CAQM said in a statement.
The national capital witnesses severe air pollution every year with the presence of PM 2.5 particles during winter.