New Delhi: The Centre’s air quality panel on Monday (December 19) decided not to invoke curbs under Stage III of the anti-air pollution action plan despite the situation in the national capital worsening to the ‘severe’ category. A dense layer of smog hung over Delhi with the 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) at 4 pm recorded at 410. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’ and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.
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The sub-committee of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) mandated to enforce anti-pollution measures under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) said the sudden spike in air pollution levels was temporary.
“Since the forecast does not predict any deterioration and the overall AQI of Delhi is predicted to further improve from tonight/ tomorrow, the GRAP sub-committee has unanimously decided not to invoke restrictions under Stage-III,” the panel said in an order. The decreasing trend is clearly visible as Delhi’s overall AQI dipped from 411 at 3 pm to 406 at 6 pm, it said.
The CAQM said preventive actions under stages I and II would continue.
If the AQI is projected to reach the severe category, restrictive actions under Stage III are to be invoked at least three days in advance, according to GRAP.
Curbs under Stage III include a ban on non-essential construction and demolition, closure of stone crushers and mining activities in Delhi-NCR.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
