As stubble burning season begins in north India and pollution levels in the national capital increase, the Delhi government has started implementing its Winter Action Plan.
The Delhi government has made it compulsory for construction sites with an area of 5,000 square metres or more to install anti-smog guns. Now Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) measures will be implemented three days in advance based on forecasts before the air quality worsens.
While addressing a press conference on Tuesday Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said, ‘’The Environment Department has prepared a 15-point Winter Action Plan. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will present this 15-pointer Winter Action Plan in front of the people of Delhi on September 30.’’
Gopal Rai said, ‘’This time, the Commission of Air Quality Management (CAQM) has also made certain changes in the GRAP measures. We are developing our plan of action, keeping in mind the advice of the CAQM, to be brought into force on October 1st. The major shift in the upcoming plan from the erstwhile system is that previously, the basic parameter was PM 2.5 and PM 10. On the basis of this parameter, the level of pollution was bifurcated into five categories: moderate, poor, very poor, severe, and severe plus.’’
‘’Now, instead of gauging the level of pollution on the basis of PM 2.5 and PM 10 values, monitoring will be done on the basis of the Air Quality Index (AQI) and the GRAP measures will be implemented in Delhi accordingly. There will be four categories of level of pollution instead of five in the new Plan: Poor (AQI 201-300), Very Poor (AQI 301-400), Severe (401-450), Severe Plus (AQI 450+). The modification made in the GRAP measures is that previously, it was implemented after the air quality falls below a certain. Now, the garb system will be implemented three day prior to reaching the level on the basis of estimation. AQI will be calculated on the basis of forecasts of IITM and IMD,” he added.
He said, ‘’Regarding the dust pollution in Delhi, it was mandatory to install an anti-smog gun on site with an area greater than 20,000 sq metre till now. But now there is a modification to this provision, and now the construction sites sized between 5000 sq metres to 10000 sq metres are required to have anti-smog guns. A construction site with an area between 5 thousand sq metres to 10 thousand sq metres needs to have one anti-smog gun.’’
‘’Construction sites sized between 10 thousand sq metres to 15000sq metres are required to have two anti-smog guns and sites having size between 15000 sq metres and 20,000 sq metres need to have three anti-smog guns. Construction sites with an area greater than 20 thousand sq metres are required to have four anti-smog guns.’’ He continued. Environment Minister concluded, ‘’I held a meeting with all the officials of DPCC yesterday. Last year, we worked together with all the agencies working on construction sites in Delhi to keep a noose on pollution. Today, I want to appeal to them to follow the new provisions related to the installation of anti-smog guns.’’