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Delhi’s air quality saw some improvement, though it remained in the very poor range on Sunday. While the AQI value was 397 — just shy of turning severe — Saturday, it improved to 352 on Sunday.
The share of farm stubble burning in PM 2.5 concentration, however, rose to 26% from 21% a day ago. According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the overall contribution of PM 2.5 was around 54%.
“Local surface winds will be blowing at a speed of around 6 to 8 km/h and temperature will be in the range of 32 to 15 degrees Celsius for the next three days. These conditions cause weak dispersion of pollutants. Low mixing height is also leading to inefficient dilution and dispersion of pollutants. The share of stubble burning emissions in PM 2.5 is 26% due to favourable winds at transport level blowing from the northwest direction. Air quality is likely to remain within ‘very poor’ for the next three days due to a combined effect of transport as well as local weather conditions,” the SAFAR forecast said.
Delhi’s AQI has been in the very poor category since Wednesday. It has not hit the severe category so far this season.
Meanwhile, the Delhi government’s environment department is going to monitor the ban on construction and demolition activities that was announced on Saturday as part of stage 3 of the Graded Response Action Plan.
“As many as 586 teams have been formed to monitor the construction-demolition ban. Water sprinkling has been intensified in view of the pollution situation. A total of 521 water sprinklers, 233 anti-smog guns, and 150 mobile anti-smog guns have been deployed to tackle pollution in Delhi,” Environment Minister Gopal Rai said.
What’s allowed, what’s not
As per norms, some construction activities are allowed. This includes construction work of Railways Department, work in Metro stations, airports, ISBT and its terminals and also any activity related to national security. Other exceptions include work in hospitals, construction for linear public projects such as highways, roads and flyovers, and interior work such as plumbing-related activities and other furniture-related work, Rai said. Activities that will remain banned are construction and demolition work that does not fall in the mentioned exceptions, boring and drilling, digging, movement of soil, and movement of vehicles on unpaved roads.
Rai also appealed to the Uttar Pradesh government to avoid plying diesel buses in areas bordering Delhi. He said AQI may turn severe in the coming two-three days. “The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) system had earlier announced that during this winter season, the GRAP system will be set in three days earlier based on the Air Quality Index (AQI) at the time. Right now, as per the information we are getting from experts, after November 1, the speed of the wind is likely to be in the range of 4-8 kmph, the direction of the wind is likely to turn towards the Northwest, and based on the available information, we have been told that AQI levels are likely to cross 400, which comes in the ‘severe’ category,” he said.
He added, “Today in Delhi, we held a meeting with all stakeholders, particularly those who are engaged in the construction business — PWD, CPWD, MCD, DDA, Railways and all agencies working in the construction sites — and informed them about the ban on construction and demolition work. According to the CAQM order, we will implement all regulations for Delhi. This year, we have also worked towards ensuring better implementation of the order. In previous years, we had noticed that despite a ban being enforced, there were some sites where work was still ongoing.”
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