Delhi bans diesel gen-sets as GRAP kicks in; air quality very poor in several parts

The national capital banned generator sets, barring those being used in essential and emergency services, on Tuesday, as the air quality in several places in the city and adjoining areas slipped to "very poor" level.

The overall Air Quality Index in Dwarka Sector 8, Delhi Technological University, Mundka, Rohini, Anand Vihar, and Bawana was 359, 343, 342, 319, 313, and 307.

The overall AQI stood at 275 at 6.30 pm.

The air quality in neighbouring Ghaziabad (316), Greater Noida (308) and Loni Dehat (307) also dipped to "very poor" level.

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

The ban on generators is a part of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), a set of stricter anti-pollution measures to be taken according to severity of pollution, that came into force on Tuesday.

This is the first time that the ban on gen-sets has been extended to NCR cities of Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida, Faridabad, Sonepat, Panipat and Bahadurgarh.

The Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), in a report, said, "Delhi's overall air quality is in the higher end of the 'poor' category. It touched the 'very poor' category for a brief period on Monday night."