In a bid to curb air pollution, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) on Wednesday issued directions banning the use of diesel generators in the national capital from Thursday under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).
"DPCC hereby bans the operation of generator sets of all capacities, run on diesel, petrol or kerosene in Delhi with effect from October 15 till further orders, excluding those used for essential or emergency services," an official order read.
Essential services include healthcare facilities, elevators, railway services, Delhi Metro, airports and interstate bus terminals and the data centre run by the National Informatics Centre.
GRAP is a set of anti-pollution measures that come into force in Delhi and its vicinity towns according to the severity of the situation.
The measures under GRAP were first implemented in Delhi-NCR in 2017. The measures include increasing bus and metro services, hiking parking fees and banning use of diesel generator sets when the air quality turns poor.
When the situation turns "severe", GRAP recommends closure of brick kilns, stone crushers and hot mix plants, sprinkling of water, frequent mechanised cleaning of roads and maximising power generation from natural gas.
The measures to be followed in the "emergency" situation include stopping the entry of trucks in Delhi, ban on construction activities and introduction of the odd-even car rationing scheme.
To curb the pollution level, EPCA had directed the Haryana government to impose a ban on diesel generators in Gurugram and Faridabad stringently.
The pollution control body also questioned the state's preparedness to enforce the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) within Oct 15, which includes banning of DG Sets in residential, commercial and industrial areas.
On Oct 07, EPCA had issued a letter to Chief Secretaries of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan on implementation of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in an endeavour to keep air pollution at its lowest.
It stated that diesel generator sets will be banned in Delhi and in vicinity towns such as Ghaziabad, Noida and Greater Noida in UP and Faridabad and Gurgaon in Haryana.
The measures include 'zero tolerance' for all sources of pollution. GRAP has been approved by the Supreme Court and notified by the Government of India (MOEF).