The Commission for Air Quality Management has imposed Stage 3 restrictions in Delhi and the National Capital Region due to air quality deteriorating towards 'severe'.
On Friday, the Commission for Air Quality Management enforced Stage 3 restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) as a precautionary measure, following the worsening of air quality in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). This decision was made to prevent further deterioration of air quality according to GRAP, which triggers incremental anti-pollution measures once a certain threshold is reached in Delhi-NCR.
As of 5.05 pm, the average Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi stood at 380, as per the Sameer application that provides hourly updates from the Central Pollution Control Board. Twenty-five out of the 58 active monitoring stations recorded 'severe' air quality levels, with Punjabi Bagh recording the highest AQI at 453, followed by Jahangirpuri at 447 and Rohini at 444.
The index values range from 0 to 50 indicating 'good' air quality, between 51 and 100 signifying 'satisfactory', between 101 and 200 meaning 'moderate', 'poor' air quality between 201 and 300, 'very poor' between 301 and 400, 'severe' between 401 and 450, and anything above 450 is termed 'severe plus'.
Neighboring cities also reported 'poor' to 'very poor' air quality. Noida recorded an AQI of 300, Greater Noida 314, Ghaziabad 259 and Gurugram 365.
Stage 3 measures include a ban on non-essential construction work, the closure of stone crushers and mining activities, in addition to the measures already imposed under Stage 1 and Stage 2. The shift of primary schools up to Class 5 to hybrid mode is also included in these restrictions, with parents and students having the option to choose between offline and online classes wherever available.
The first two stages' restrictions were introduced on October 21 and November 2.
Source:
Scroll.in
