At 269, Gurugram air quality index worst in region, GRAP stage-I kicks in

Tribune Reporters

Advertisement

Gurugram/ Faridabad, October 6

The Centre’s air quality panel on Friday directed authorities in the National Capital Region (NCR) to enforce a ban on coal usage in hotels and restaurants, and to take punitive measures against polluting industries and thermal power plants as the air quality in the region plunged into the ‘poor’ category.

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), a statutory body responsible for proactively implementing the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), reported a “sudden decline” in air quality parameters in the region, including Gurugram and Faridabad, over the past 24 hours.

GRAP categorises actions into four stages: Stage I – ‘Poor’ (AQI 201-300), Stage II – ‘Very Poor’ (AQI 301-400), Stage III – ‘Severe’ (AQI 401-450), and Stage IV – ‘Severe Plus’ (AQI > 450).

Stage I mandates the suspension of work at private construction and demolition projects with a plot size equal to or exceeding 500 sq.m that are not registered on the state government’s portal for remote monitoring of dust mitigation measures.

Authorities are also tasked with enforcing a complete ban on the use of coal and firewood in tandoors at hotels, restaurants and open eateries, along with taking punitive action against polluting industrial units and thermal power plants within 300 km of Delhi.

Ensuring the proper implementation of guidelines for dust mitigation at construction and demolition project sites and sound environmental management of resulting waste is also part of Stage I.

The air quality of Gurugram has been continuously deteriorating for the past six days. Today, it deteriorated to the ‘poor’ level. The AQI of Gurugram district was 269 on Friday. For the third consecutive day, the city remained the most-polluted in Delhi-NCR while the Manesar area was the least polluted in NCR.

The area of new Gurugram was most polluted on Friday. AQI 355 was recorded in Sector 51 and surrounding areas. AQI 250 was recorded in Terry village and surrounding areas. The AQI of Vikas Sadan was 156. The AQI of Manesar was 39.

The air quality in Faridabad dipped to the ‘poor’ level today. Suggesting onset of smoggy conditions, the AQI recorded this morning in the city was 216.

It was worst at 324 in Sector-11, one of the four stations set up to record the AQI here, according to Sameer, the official app of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

The other main cities of the NCR, including Delhi, Gurugram, Bahadurgarh, Sonepat, Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad, also recorded ‘poor’ air quality on Friday morning. While neighbouring Gurugram city recorded AQI of 269, one of the highest in the region, Delhi and Greater Noida witnessed the level of 212 and 256, respectively, today.

Besides a drop in day and night temperatures, other factors, including the burning of stubble in the region, dusty road conditions, traffic, construction work, improper cleanliness and inadequate measures to contain air pollution threaten to further deteriorate air quality in the coming days, claim sources in the state Pollution Control Department.

“The air quality is likely to persist at the same level or may deteriorate further due to the dominance of contributing factors like climatic conditions, farm fires and the loopholes in the action required to curb pollution,” said an official on condition of anonymity.

The district administration has banned the manufacture, sale and use of non-green crackers till January 31, 2024. He said officials have been directed to monitor air quality round the clock and ensure proper implementation of GRAP orders.

(With inputs from )