New Delhi: As winter begins setting in here with the maximum temperature three degrees below normal on Thursday, the air quality continued to worsen and got closer to the 'very poor' mark, with the sub-committee on GRAP recommending all authorities in the NCR to stop the usage of diesel gensets and increase the frequency of
public transport in anticipation of worsening air in the next few days.
The CPCB reported an Air Quality Index of 268 on Thursday evening — higher than a day before even as the share of stubble burning in Delhi's PM2.5 levels reached 19 per cent — the highest this season so far — with monitoring agencies predicting that this share is only set to increase in the coming days as air worsens here. The air quality in the capital is likely to slip into the "very poor" zone by Friday, SAFAR has said.
At a review meeting of the sub-committee, Dr. V K Soni from the India Meteorological Department informed that North-Westerly winds will continue until the morning of November 1 and may push the air quality to the "very poor" category.
The minimum temperature is likely to drop to 14-15 degrees Celsius with increased moisture, which is unfavourable for dispersion of pollutants, he said. Considering this, the sub-committee asked authorities in Delhi-NCR to implement measures under the "very poor" category in addition to steps listed under "poor" to "moderate" AQI category under GRAP.
"Stop use of diesel generator sets [except for emergency purposes, enhance parking fee by 3-4 times and increase bus and metro services by augmenting contract buses and increasing frequency," the sub-committee said. The sub-committee also directed states to ensure that hotels and open eateries do not use coal or firewood.
Meanwhile, the Delhi government strengthened its campaign to encourage public participation in anti-pollution measures as Environment Minister Gopal Rai launched a one-stop dashboard for all pollution-related queries — delhifightspollution.in. In addition, the minister also launched the Paryavaran Sathi chatbot — part of a campaign in collaboration with UNICEF's Yuwaah initiative to encourage the youth to help in ways they can.
The youth who becomes a 'Paryavaran Saathi' will be given points based on their participation and top 100 such 'Saathis' will be felicitated by the Minister. They will be
asked to sign pledges, campaign door-to-door, and even hold street plays to make people aware of the measures that need to be taken.
The website will also host critical information like, the AQI levels and 7-day trends that will also include PM 2.5 and PM 10 levels along with information on local pollution levels around various centres across the city.