Page 52 - Air Pollution

No need to invoke GRAP's stage 3 in Delhi-NCR for now: Air quality panel

The Centre' air quality panel on Friday said the ongoing anti-pollution actions under stages I and II of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) will continue in Delhi-NCR and there is no need for invoking curbs under stage III at present. In view of the improvement in the air quality, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) had on Monday directed authorities to revoke the curbs enforced in Delhi-NCR under stage three of GRAP, including a ban on construction and demolition activities, barring essential projects. The sub-committee for invoking anti-pollution curbs under GRAP held a meeting on Wednesday to review the air quality situation and the progress of the actions implemented in the region. The panel has decided that the ongoing actions under "stages 1 and 2 of GRAP shall continue and there does not seem a need to invoke Stage III of GRAP at this stage", the CAQM said in a statement. "According to the dynamic model and weather/meteorological forecast provided by the Ind

Fix timeline to rectify cause of poor AQI at hotspots: NHRC asks Delhi govt

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has asked the Delhi government to fix a timeline to rectify the cause of poor air quality at hotspots and inquired about the status of alternative landfill sites. The NHRC on Friday held the third hearing of chief secretaries of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi on air pollution in Delhi NCR in light of reports submitted by them in response to its directions in the last meeting. Seeking further reports, the next date of hearing has been fixed for November 25. "The commission asked the Delhi government to fix a timeline to find out and rectify the cause of poor air quality at the hot spots and when these will become normal. The commission also enquired about the status of alternative landfill sites for garbage disposal and cleaning thereof," it said in a statement. While taking note of some of the actions taken by the state governments to control air pollution by managing stubble, dust, and hospital sewage, among others, the panel ..

BJP targets Delhi CM Kejriwal over cleaning of Yamuna river, air pollution

The BJP on Wednesday accused Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of "doing nothing" to clean the Yamuna river or control air pollution in the city despite making promises elections after elections. BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia claimed that the chief minister failed to clean the Yamuna despite governing the national capital for the last eight years, adding that the Centre and the Delhi L-G managed to clean a 3-km stretch of the river in just three-and-a-half months. "Kejriwal had visited South Korea's Seoul in December 2018 to learn how a polluted river was cleaned there. What did he learn there that despite 50 months, Yamuna's all important parameters, including biochemical oxygen demand, dissolved oxygen and fecal coliform, are much above the permissible limit?" he asked. The Yamuna has permissible limit of fecal coliform bacteria when it enters the city which rises to over 6.5 lakh/100 ml as the river leaves the city, he said. "This over 1,200 per cent more fecal coliform ...

Delhi's November AQI: With 3 days in 'severe' grade, 2022 better than 2021

Delhi-NCR has not recorded a single 'good' air quality day in the first two weeks of Nov in 5 years

Delhi pollution: Air quality in 'poor' category, likely to improve today

Delhi's air quality was recorded in the poor category on Wednesday morning but it is predicted to improve as favourable wind speed is likely during the day. The capital's average air quality index (AQI) stood at 262, worsening from 227 at 4 pm on Tuesday. It was 294 on Monday and 303 on Sunday. An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered poor, 301 and 400 very poor, and 401 and 500 severe. The city recorded a minimum temperature of 13.2 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 28 degrees Celsius. Temperatures are predicted to drop due to winds blowing in from snow-clad mountains in the north. Delhi saw a significant improvement in the air quality over the last three days due to better wind speed and a sharp decline in farm fires in Punjab. According to data from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Punjab reported 141 farm fires on Tuesday and just four on Monday. A total of 2,467 incidents of stubble burning were reported in the agrarian sta

Delhi: Air quality improves but still in 'poor' category; AQI at 221

NCR also witnessed some improvement in the air quality as Gurugram fell in the 'Moderate' category with an AQI of 162 and Delhi Airport (T3) recorded 'poor' quality air with an AQI of 218.

As air quality improves, panel revokes Stage III of GRAP in Delhi-NCR

The sub-committee for taking actions to reduce air pollution under Graded Response Action Plan held a review meeting on Monday

Delhi's air quality improves to 'poor', max temp settles at 31.2 deg C

Delhi's air quality on Monday improved to the poor category while the maximum temperature was recorded at 31.2 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season's average. The capital's 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 294. It was 303 on Sunday, as was on Saturday. An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe". The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Monday directed authorities to revoke the curbs enforced in Delhi-NCR under stage three of the Graded Response Action Plan with immediate effect. This means construction and demolition activities can resume in the region. However, user agencies need to strictly follow dust control norms. The CAQM noted that Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) on Monday (294) was about 100 points below the threshold for invoking GRAP stage 3 actions. The minimum temperature settled at 14.1 degrees Celsius, a notch above the season's average, the India Meteorological Department

Air quality panel revokes Stage III of GRAP as Delhi pollution eases

On Monday Punjab reported only four incidents of residue burning as against 2,175 reported on Sunday

No extension on curbs on plying of BS-III, BS-IV vehicles: Delhi govt

The Delhi government has decided not to extend the curbs on plying of BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel vehicles in the capital in view of the improvement in air quality, according to officials. The restrictions on plying of these vehicles was in place till November 13 as part of the curbs under Stage 3 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). The Delhi government's Transport department reviewed the situation on Monday and decided that the curbs will not be extended, sources said. "Considering the recent improvement in the air quality in NCT of Delhi, the restrictions imposed for plying of BS III petrol and BS IV diesel LMVs (four wheelers) in the jurisdiction of NCT of Delhi are hereby revoked with immediate effect till further orders. "The department will closely monitor the AQI level in the NCT of Delhi and directions will be reviewed accordingly," read the official order issued by the department on Monday. During a review meeting last week, the transport department had decided

Best of BS Opinion: Green yields, the routine air pollution crisis & more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

The routine air pollution crisis

The fact is Delhi is also part of the pollution problem - its sources of combustion add to the pollution of neighbouring states and theirs to Delhi

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Delhi air quality improves, AQI now at 320; still in 'very poor' category

NCR also continued to witness bad air as Noida also registered very poor air quality with an AQI of 341 while Gurugram's AQI stood at 324 and continued to remain in the 'very poor' category.

Live updates: Farmers can't be blamed for NCR pollution, says NHRC

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2,467 stubble burning incidents in Punjab in a day, tally rises to 43,144

Punjab saw 2,467 stubble burning incidents on Saturday with Bathinda registering the maximum 358 farm fires. With these, the cumulative farm fire cases between September 15 and November 12 jumped to 43,144, according to the Ludhiana-based Punjab Remote Sensing Centre data. This is 27 per cent less compared to 58,976 crop residue burning incidents reported in the corresponding period of last year, according to data. The state had reported 71,091 such incidents during the same period in 2020, it stated. Of the total 2,467 stubble burning incidents on Saturday, Bathinda topped the list with 358 farm fires, followed by 336 in Moga, 256 in Muktsar, 242 in Fazilka, 231 in Mansa, 200 in Faridkot, 186 in Ferozepur and 174 in Barnala, according to data. The state had seen 1,758 and 3,403 active fire incidents on November 12 in 2020 and 2021 respectively, the data stated. The farmers continued to set crop residue on fire in order to clear fields for sowing the wheat crop. The wheat, if sow

Delhi-NCR pollution: Slight improvement in air quality due to strong winds

Air pollution in Delhi ameliorated marginally on the back of strong winds on Saturday but farm fires raging in Punjab prevented a significant improvement in the air quality. Delhi's 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 303 on Saturday, improving from 346 on Friday. It was 295 on Thursday. An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe". Officials at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said winds gusting up to 18-20 kmph barrelled through the city during the day, improving air quality and visibility levels. The Centre's air quality panel had on Friday said curbs under stage 3 (severe) of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) will continue in Delhi-NCR as the air pollution in the region is showing an upward trend. All construction and demolition work, except for essential projects, is banned in Delhi-NCR under the third stage of the GRAP. Brick kilns, hot mix plants and stone crushers are also not allowed to ...

Pollution: Over 5,800 vehicles challaned for violating GRAP Stage 3 rules

On Monday, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai had said that the ban has been removed from construction work related to highways, pipelines etc

Delhi-NCR pollution: Farm fires due to failure of 4 state govts, says NHRC

After hearing the responses of the chief secretaries of Delhi and three neighbouring states on the pollution issue, the NHRC on Saturday said farmers are burning stubble "under compulsion" and it is due to the "failure" of the four state governments that stubble burning is happening. Alarmed over the rise in pollution in Delhi-NCR, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had recently asked the chief secretaries of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi to appear before it on November 10 to discuss the matter. The Commission, after considering the responses of the states concerned and the government of Delhi, and the deliberations thereon, is of the opinion that the "farmers are burning stubble under compulsion," the NHRC said in a statement on Saturday. "The state governments have to provide harvest machines to get rid of those stubble, but they have failed to provide an adequate number of requisite machines and other measures; as a result, farmers are forced to burn the ...

Delhi-NCR air quality deteriorating, GRAP stage III curbs to continue: CAQM

The Centre's air quality panel on Friday said curbs under stage 3 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) will continue in Delhi-NCR as the air pollution in the region is showing an upward trend. Delhi's 24-hour average air quality index stood at 346 at 4 pm on Friday, deteriorating from 295 on Thursday. "The Air Quality Index (AQI) has been showing an increasing trend for the last two days in Delhi-NCR. Wind conditions have not been very favourable and accordingly dispersion of air pollutants has not been very effective," the CAQM said in a statement. Considering the need to continue with the steps to prevent deterioration of air quality, the sub-committee on Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) has decided that the "ongoing action implemented under Stage III of GRAP shall continue and it should not be withdrawn at this stage". All construction and demolition work, except for essential projects, is banned in Delhi-NCR under the third stage of the GRAP. Brick kilns, hot mix plants