Delhi: Grap-4 enforced after air quality sees dramatic fall

UNlike the previous “ terrible” write—a 24-hour average out send lineament index (AQI) reading above 400—the announcement of mitigative measures came with a sense of urgency. On Saturday, the AQI touched 401 in Delhi at 10am, barely breaching the “severe” mark, but the commission announced curbs under Stage 3 before 11am. This was upgraded to stage 4 in the evening after the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) released its daily bulletin at 4pm, recording an average AQI for Delhi at 431.To be sure, when the air turned severe from November 9, Grap 3 was invoked by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) only two days later.The AQI remained 400+ till November 13, but Grap 4 was not imposed, effectively making this the first time this season the curbs under this stage have been implemented.The commission revoked stage 3 restrictions on November 26 at an AQI of 327, which was still firmly in the “very poor” category. This allowed construction activities to be carried out along with the plying of older diesel vehicles on roads on what was the 21st consecutive hazardous air day in the Capital.The Delhi government issued orders to all schools to conduct classes for grades up to 9, along with 11, in hybrid mode – both physical and virtual (wherever possible) with immediate effect till further orders. It also issued an order under section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, to all government and private offices operating within the city to allow 50% staff to work from home. Delhi-registered heavy diesel vehicles that are BS-IV and below have also been restricted under stage 4.Saturday’s measures come after increased public criticism, including protests, as well as scrutiny by the legislature and judiciary in the last two weeks, which have pressured CAQM to review the implementation of curbs. “Keeping in view the prevailing trend of air quality and in an effort to prevent further deterioration of air quality in the region, the CAQM sub-committee on Grap decides to invoke all actions as envisaged under Stage-IV of the extant Grap – ‘Severe+’ Air Quality with immediate effect, in the entire NCR,” CAQM said in a statement.The fourth spell of severe air this season came after the average AQI deteriorated by over 80 points in 24 hours to settle at 431 at 4pm. This reading was 349 (very poor) at the same time on Friday. Twenty-two of the 39 active air quality monitoring stations of Delhi on Saturday recorded AQI above 400. Visibility also dropped dramatically.The hazardous conditions on Saturday were largely due to a western disturbance influencing weather patterns, which led to drop in winds, trapping pollutants. Forecasts by the Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi (AQEWS) suggest little relief: The AQI is expected to be “severe” on Sunday, slightly improving to the “very poor” category on Monday as winds pick up. “The air quality is likely to be in the very poor category from Monday to Tuesday. The outlook for the subsequent six days is that the air quality is likely to be in the very poor category,” the AQEWS bulletin said on Saturday.In November, the Supreme Court had said there is “no magic wand” to clean Delhi’s air, urging expert-led long-term plans instead of relying solely on judicial orders. The court approved stricter Grap revisions, shifting curbs like vehicle bans to earlier AQI stages, while rejecting year-round construction bans to avoid economic hardship.Grap has four stages, invoked as precautionary measures to battle air pollution: Stage 1 is invoked when the AQI crosses 200, stage 2 when it crosses 300, stage 3 at 400 and stage 4 at 450. As a fifth measure as part of stage 4, CAQM asks state governments to consider closure of educational institutions and non-emergency commercial activities, permitting running of vehicles on an odd-even basis of registration numbers. This, however, has not been implemented.While severe air pollution in winters has been a fixture over decades, two key factors have changed this year. One a ban on firecrackers was eased by the Supreme Court. Two, the impact of farm fires from neighbouring states has been less, though a study said that tactical shifts in stubble burning by farmers to evade monitoring contributed to this fall.The quality of data has been of particular concern, with gaps in readings from the CPCB data and allegations that water was sprayed at multiple AQI monitoring stations, including Anand Vihar which is one of the worst pollution hotspots in Delhi. Data was missing in many instances, monitors had gone blank (especially during high AQI) at times, and there were also discrepancies at stations placed only a few kilometres from each other.CAQM held an emergency meeting on Saturday, where it observed that Haryana’s districts within the national capital region (NCR) showed “poor performance in traffic de-congestion, road dust control, and municipal solid waste (MSW) management, particularly in Gurugram.” In contrast, CAQM said that NCR districts in Uttar Pradesh “exhibited satisfactory performance” in mitigating the pollution crisis.To be sure, Noida recorded the worst AQI reading in the country at 455 on Saturday, falling in the severe+ category, followed by Greater Noida at 442, according to CPCB data. Reduced visibility induced by shallow fog on the Eastern Peripheral Expressway in Greater Noida led to a series of vehicular collisions, with a pile-up of at least 15 collisions starting around 8.30am. No casualty and the congestion was cleared within two hours, after visibility improved by 9.30am.At Saturday’s meeting, CAQM observed that the Delhi government needs to effectively tackle traffic congestion at various hotspots, road dust, and the disposal of MSW. It directed the Delhi government to convene focused monthly meetings on de-congestion of identified hotspots, continue vacuuming road dust which contributes to PM2.5 and PM10, ensure proper collection and disposal of MSW by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and New Delhi Municipal Council.“Intensified night patrolling shall be carried out for MSW and biomass burning. Intensify enforcement through Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras at fuel stations,” CAQM directed.Mahesh Palawat, vice president at Skymet, said: “The wind speed has been very low since Friday, leading to a spike in pollution levels. Due to the western disturbance, the AQI might remain in this range on Sunday as well. Wind speed might pick up from Monday again, bringing some respite.”