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Early on Tuesday (October 21), most of the monitoring stations in Delhi recorded readings in the ‘red zone’, indicating air quality in the ‘very poor’ to ‘severe’ category. The city’s overall air quality index (AQI) stood at around 451 in the early hours – well above the national average – with several areas, including Bawana (423), Wazirpur (408) and Jahangirpuri (404), reporting ‘severe’ levels.
Despite the Supreme Court allowing the sale and use of only green crackers between 6 am to 7 am and 8 pm to 10 pm, fireworks continued beyond the permitted hours, leading to a sharp increase in pollution. Weather conditions, which trap pollutants near the surface, also worsened the haze formation overnight.
CPCB classifies AQI between 0 and 50 as ‘good’, between 51 and 100 as ‘satisfactory’, between 101 and 200 as ‘moderate’, between 201 and 300 as ‘poor’, between 301 and 400 as ‘very poor’ and between 401 and 500 as ‘severe’.
In response, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has launched Phase II of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in Delhi-NCR.
What is GRAPE?
The Graded Response Action Plan is an outline of emergency measures designed to control air pollution in the National Capital Region. It sets out graded actions to be implemented depending on the severity of air quality – ranging from restrictions on construction activity and use of diesel generators to curbs on vehicular movement and industrial emissions.
Phase II, which is now in effect, includes measures such as stopping the use of coal and firewood in restaurants, increasing parking fees, and intensifying mechanical road cleaning and watering to control dust.
Officials have warned that the air quality could deteriorate further to the ‘severe’ category over the next two days as weather conditions remain unfavorable for the spread.