Pollution fight: DMRC plans 4,831 trips/day

New Delhi: In an attempt to control the air pollution level, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is taking a big step. The DMRC, keeping in view the worsening of air quality across Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), has introduced as many as 21 additional number of Metro train services on its network. These additional metro train services have started with effect from October 31, 2018, providing 812 additional number of trips.

It includes 14 Metro trains with 730 trips on newly introduced Shiv Vihar-Trilokpuri-Sanjay Lake section of Pink Line.

With these additional metro train services, for the first time in the history of DMRC, Delhi Metro will be running 4,831 trips in a day, the highest ever so far.

Meanwhile, the air quality in the national capital inched very close to the “severe” level on Thursday even as a slew of directions like halting of all construction activities involving excavation and civil construction, stopping the functioning of all stone crushers and hot mix plants generating dust pollution, etc. came into force.

The UP government also asked the state’s western districts, in and around the National Capital Region, to suspend all construction activities between November 1 and 10 and shut industries using coal and biomass fuel for a week to check pollution.

The average air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 393 on Thursday. An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good,’ 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory,’ 101 and 200 ‘moderate,’ 201 and 300 ‘poor,’ 301 and 400 ‘very poor,’ and 401 and 500 as ‘severe.’ As per forecast by the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (Safar), , the concentration of pollutants in Delhi’s air is set to increase in the next few days. From Thursday, all construction activities involving excavation and civil construction was ordered to be stopped in Delhi and other NCR districts.