Warning of a dip in air quality from November 1 to 10, an expert panel, constituted under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) for Delhi, has recommended a ban on construction activities, such as civil work and excavation, and shutting down of coal and biomass industries (except thermal and waste-to-energy plants).
It had also made an “appeal” to the people of NCR to minimise the use of private transport.
The task force is headed by the Member Secretary of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). It consists of officials in the department incharge of monitoring air quality, members of the pollution control boards of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, as well as from the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Their recommendations are forwarded to the Supreme Court-nominated Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority
“About 20%-30% of the dip in air quality that we are seeing today [on Friday] is due to crop burning [from paddy fields in Haryana and Punjab] but the rest are from a range of local sources. What we have been told from the Meteorological Department is that the air quality will not be better than what we see today. So these measures are necessary,” said CPCB Member Secretary Prashant Gargava.
The Supreme Court had on Tuesday said that crackers will only be allowed on Diwali between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., and that too only “green crackers”, which are sans chemicals like barium and aluminium. The CPCB, which had recommended that these chemicals be restricted, said on Friday that they will not conduct any special monitoring to enforce this. “There are several other agencies tasked with enforcement. Everyone should comply with them. We will do what is in our mandate,” Mr. Gargava said.
Air quality in the national Capital has dipped to “very poor” levels, meaning it is hovering around 330 on the scale, with PM 2.5 being the dominant pollutant. The CPCB said that these levels could cause “respiratory illness on prolonged exposure”.
An IMD forecast stated, “The prevailing meteorological conditions are not very favourable for dispersal of pollutants for next two days because of very low ventilation index and low wind speed. Although, the wind direction is predominantly coming from the east direction of Delhi, there may be a marginal impact of biomass burning pollutant because of horizontal dispersion.”
T.K. Joshi, Environment Health Adviser, Union Environment Ministry, said in light of the weather, people should avoid exercise and strenuous activities along the roadside, such as jogging, and restrict themselves to parks. Indoor activities such as lighting incense sticks or mosquito coils have also been marked as harmful.