With Stage-IV restrictions of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) under ‘Severe+’ category (above 450 AQI) in force in Delhi and adjoining areas, the air quality index (AQI) remained under ‘very poor’ category (301-400 AQI), recording 379 at 12 noon Friday. The AQI was 365 at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

Experts said that curbs need to be monitored stringently and complimented the Commission for Air Quality Management’s (CAQM) for not immediately relaxing after AQI improves. “There is long way to travel to reach 151 AQI recorded on October 1 (when winter season started),” said Himanshu Dixit, an anti-pollution activist.

The CAQM on Wednesday revised the GRAP guidelines, mandating the closure of schools in Delhi and NCR districts (Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, and Gautam Buddh Nagar) under Stages 3 and 4 of the plan. Earlier, the decision to implement these measures was left to the discretion of the State governments.

Further, the air pollution watchdog on Thursday night issued another Order listing specific tasks for their enforcement before governments of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. It has sought daily report of actions under GRAP ‘without fail’ from all State governments in the NCR, including Delhi government.

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In the list of tasks, CAQM has asked Delhi government and the Delhi Traffic Police (which directly comes under Union Home Ministry) to check the entry points of Delhi for the non-permitted vehicles and proper arrangements be made at the border.

Similarly Punjab and Haryana have been asked (specially Punjab) to revise inspection protocol for verification of fire incidences to within “24 hours” from existing “48 hours”. This year, the satellite monitored stubble burning incidents have shown 71 per cent drop in such cases to 10,296 during September 15 and November 21 from 35.606 cases in the year-ago period in Punjab.

However, according to stubble burning data compiled by Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) show that the daily highest this season was on November 18 in Punjab (1251 cases) and Rajasthan (152), on October 12 in Haryana (98), on November 20 in Uttar Pradesh (395) and on November 13 in Madhya Pradesh (1124).

Following the Supreme Court’s adverse observations for delaying the implementation of Stages 3 and 4 of the GRAP, the CAQM this week mandated that under Stage 3 the State governments are required to stagger the timings of public offices and municipal bodies in Delhi and the adjoining four districts of UP and Haryana. However, for other NCR districts, the decision on office timings remains at the discretion of the respective State governments.

At 12 noon, Friday, out of 39 spots in Delhi, Jahangirpuri recorded the maximum AQI at 430 whereas the lowest was 285 at Lodi Road, according to data of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). At least 10 places reported AQI above 400 level while 28 spots had the AQI between 301 and 400.

GRAP IV restrictions were announced on the night of November 17 when Delhi’s daily average AQI rose to 457 at 7 p.m. from 441 at 4 p.m.. Several pollution control measures, including shifting of classes to online mode and banning truck entry were put in place from 8 a.m. on November 18.

The CAQM has classified the air quality under four stages: Stage 1 - ‘poor’ (AQI 201-300), Stage 2 - ‘very poor’ (AQI 301-400), Stage 3 - ‘severe’ (AQI 401-450) and Stage 4 - ‘severe plus’ (AQI above 450) and restrictions have been placed accordingly .

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