New Delhi: As air quality in the national capital continues to remain under the ‘poor category’, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) on Wednesday issued directions on banning the use of diesel generators in the region from October 15 under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).
An official order put out by the DPCC stated that it bans the operation of electricity generator sets of all capacities whether it is run on diesel, petrol or kerosene in Delhi with effect from October 15 till further orders. However, the order excludes those generators used for essential or emergency services.
As per the order, essential services include medical facilities, elevators, railway services, Delhi Metro, airports and interstate bus terminals and also the data centre run by the National Informatics Centre.
The official order further mentions that the power distribution companies have been directed to ensure uninterrupted electric power supply to the consumers.
Earlier in the day, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain took to Twitter and said that the thermal power stations in the vicinity of Delhi is the main reason behind the region’s toxic air. Even though the Delhi government have shut down all its power stations in the past few years, there are many others still functioning around the national capital. And despite the order of the Supreme Court, the Central Government wants to give more time to the thermal power plant around Delhi. He said, “I have written a letter to the central government that they should close the thermal power plants around Delhi.”
On Wednesday, Delhi’s air quality dipped further and recorded an air quality index (AQI) of 282 at 5 pm. The 24-hour average AQI was 300 on Tuesday. The AQI had hit “very poor” levels on Tuesday morning and stood at 306 at 11 am, which was the worst since February.