Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) slumped deeper into “very poor” levels on Monday, according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB’s) daily air quality bulletin, prompting authorities to invoke the second stage of the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) that mandated some curbs on polluting activities.
The 24-hour average AQI was 310 on Monday, up from an AQI of 277(“poor”) recorded on Sunday. Later that evening, at 11pm, the AQI had reached 303 as unfavourable meteorological conditions, high local emissions and the illegal use of firecrackers combined to form a band of haze that persisted through Monday.
The AQI is predicted to remain in the “very poor” category at least till Thursday, with increased stubble burning expected to add to the Capital’s woes, the early warning system (EWS) for air pollution reported.
“While comprehensively reviewing the air quality scenario in the region as well as the meteorological conditions and air quality forecasts made available by IMD and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, it was noted that there is a likelihood of the AQI in Delhi staying in ‘Very Poor’ category in the coming days. Therefore, in an effort to prevent further deterioration of air quality, the CAQM sub-committee for operationalisation of Grap has taken the call to invoke 11-point action plan as per Stage-II of revised GRAP in the entire NCR,” Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), the apex body for monitoring pollution in the Capital, said in a statement on Monday evening.
The new Grap curbs include stricter monitoring of the use of diesel generators not equipped with emission mitigation devices, a surge in parking fee to discourage the use of private transport. and strengthening bus and Metro services.
CPCB classifies AQI between 0-50 as “good”, between 51 and 100 as “satisfactory”, between 101 and 200 as “moderate”, between 201 and 300 as “poor”, between 301 and 400 as “very poor”, and over 400 as “severe”.
Monday was the first time in nearly four months Delhi’s air turned “very poor”. The last time this happened was on June 19, when the AQI was 306.
An official with the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) said the parking fee has been hiked and the order will be issued in the next few days. “All the directions issued by the government and the commissioner as per Grap will be followed to undertake pollution mitigation measures,” the official, requesting anonymity, said.
Under the normal slab for surface parking, four-wheelers are charged ₹20 per hour, with a maximum of ₹100 for a day. Two-wheelers are charged ₹10 per hour. In the case of multilevel parking sites, the charges are ₹10 for up to four hours for cars and ₹5 for up to four hours for two-wheelers. The rates will now be doubled.
But the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), which manages more than 96% of Delhi’s geographical area, was yet to enforce a hike as of Monday evening.
An MCD official said that the civic body needs approval from the House of councillors to increase parking fee. “During last winter, a proposal in this regard was put up before the House but it was referred back. We are considering putting up a fresh proposal based on the CAQM directions,” an official said.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said it will run 40 additional trips on its routes to comply with Grap stage -II mandates. Twenty more trips will be added if and when the third stage is activated, officials said.
Stubble-burning contribution expected to rise
Data from the Centre’s Decision Support System (DSS) forecasting model predicted pollution in Delhi to rise, primarily due to local pollutants and pollution from the neighbouring NCR towns. It estimated the contribution of stubble burning to Delhi’s PM 2.5 (particulate matter having a diameter of 2.5 microns or less) load to be around 3.2% on Monday. In comparison, the contribution of Delhi’s vehicular emissions was around 11%, neighbouring Gautam Budh Nagar accounted for an estimated 8.8% and Ghaziabad 7.5%.
DSS estimates the share of stubble burning in Delhi’s air to be around 3.5% on Tuesday, predicting it will rise to 11.2% on Wednesday and to around 15.1% on Thursday.
Forecasts by the EWS for Delhi, another model under the ministry of earth sciences, said Delhi’s AQI is expected to be “very poor” from Tuesday to Thursday. “Meteorological conditions are unfavourable for effective dispersion of pollutants as calm winds prevail during night. Additional emissions from sources such as stubble/waste burning are likely to deteriorate air quality significantly,” EWS said.
Mahesh Palawat, vice president at Skymet meteorology said locally, there had not been a change in meteorological conditions. “We still have easterly winds blowing and the winds become calm at night. Around Wednesday, we may see a change in wind direction to northwesterly, which is when share of stubble burning may rise,” he said.
Delhi’s maximum temperature was 34.7°C on Monday, two degrees above the normal. The minimum was 20.4°C, two notches above the normal. The maximum and minimum are forecast to hover around the same range on Tuesday.
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