Capital air quality ‘severe’, no construction till Sunday

New Delhi: Air quality in the national capital remained “severe” for the third day on Thursday, prompting authorities to alert people to avoid staying outdoors and Delhi’s lieutenant- governor Anil Baijal to order halt in all civil construction activities across the city till Sunday.

As the national capital continues to grapple with severe dust pollution, L-G Anil Baijal ordered closure of all civil construction activities across Delhi till Sunday as part of emergency measures, which also include intensifying mechanical road sweeping.

Union environment minister Harsh Vardhan directed agencies to be on “maximum” alert and take all measures to contain sources of dust.

A thick blanket of haze has been enveloping Delhi and parts of the national capital region for the last few days.

The air quality in Delhi remained beyond the “severe” level for the third straight day on Thursday. The authorities warned that dusty conditions were likely to prevail for another 3-4 days and advised people to avoid staying outdoors for long hours.

According to the L-G office, the civic bodies, PWD, and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) have been directed to impose penalties on all road construction agencies for violating laid down norms for dust control measures.

The L-G tweeted he has held an emergency meeting in view of the severe dust pollution in Delhi with environment minister Imran Hussain and the concerned officials.

He said emergency measures like closure of all civil construction activities till June 17 have been taken and further monitoring would be done by agencies like NHAI, DMRC, MCDs, PWD, and NBCC to ensure compliance.

In a statement, the L-G office stated that the municipal corporations, Delhi Development Authority (DDA), and SDMs will strictly enforce prohibition on open burning of garbage, plastics, and leaves in the national capital.

“Municipal corporations and PWD will intensify mechanical road sweepings, sprinkling of non-potable water at central verges and roadsides, and stop sweeping activity on the main roads,” it stated.

The meeting was attended by Mr Hussain, chief secretary Anshu Prakash, EPCA chairman Bhure Lal, senior government officers, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) director general, and EPCA member Sunita Narain. The L-G said a massive afforestation drive would be conducted across Delhi from July 15.to September 15.

Ms Narain said ‘severe plus’ category has been imposed for dust pollution under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) with immediate effect till Sunday.

“That means shutting down of all civil construction activities till June 17. We have been told by the MeT department that rain is likely to take place on Saturday, which will mitigate this bad weather situation. We have enforced it till Sunday,” she said.

The EPCA’s action plan, GRAP, has formulated five categories. These are severe plus or emergency, severe, very poor, moderate to poor, and moderate.

The EPCA, a Supreme Court appointed watchdog, had issued an advisory to chief secretaries of states in Delhi-NCR asking them to take “urgent steps” for controlling dust pollution.

Ms Narain said, in pursuant to the advisory, a meeting was taken up by the chief secretary in Haryana late on Wednesday night. They have also decided to shut down construction activities for that period with immediate effect, she added. However, there was no confirmation from the Haryana government’s side.

The air quality deteriorated owing to dust storms in western India, particularly Rajasthan, which increased coarser particles in the air, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) said.

PM10 level (presence of particles with diameter less than 10 mm) was beyond severe at 796 in Delhi-NCR and 830 in Delhi, leading to hazy conditions.

According to the CPCB, the air quality index (AQI) — a measurement of the concentration of toxic particulate matter (PM) in the air — at several places in Delhi remained beyond the 500 mark, with East Delhi’s Anand Vihar area recording a PM10 level of 929 and PM2.5 level of 301 this morning.

An AQI between 0-50 is considered “good,” 51-100 “satisfactory,” 101-200 “moderate,” 201-300 “poor,” 301-400 “very poor,” and 401-500 “severe.”