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Air Quality Update: The pollution level in Delhi has increased significantly since Diwali. Due to this, Delhiites are facing many types of health problems. Due to the deterioration of the Air Quality Index (AQI), the average AQI of Delhi was recorded at 384 today, which is in the 'very poor' category. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the AQI in Anand Vihar area has crossed the mark of 400, which today i.e. on November 5 was recorded at 457 at around 7 am, which falls in the 'severe' category. Earlier on Monday also, AQI was recorded above 350 here. At the same time, AQI 440 has been recorded in Jahangirpuri, Delhi.
Air quality started deteriorating in NCR also
- Greater Noida- 306
- Ghaziabad- 319
- Noida- 308
- Gurugram- 316
- Faridabad- 272
Where are the pollutants coming from?
When Delhi continues to grapple with high levels of pollution, and more than a dozen stations are in the “severe” category, it is important to know where the pollutants are coming from. On Monday 4 November, almost one-fourth of Delhi's air pollution was found to be linked to stubble burning, a significant environmental challenge. Like every year, the actual contribution of stubble burning to Delhi's pollution level on October 4 was 23.4%, according to data from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune. It is worth noting that the contribution of stubble burning to Delhi's pollution was about 15% on Saturday and 20% on Sunday. The main reason for this is the continuous burning of stubble in the neighboring states, which significantly affects the air quality of Delhi.
13.7 percent pollution is due to vehicle smoke
13.7 percent of pollution in Delhi was due to smoke emitted from vehicles. The pollution level in Delhi is continuously increasing since Diwali. The main reason for this is the vehicles of people going to office. Factories in Delhi and surrounding areas contributed 3.4 percent to the pollution. At the same time, the share of construction activities in the total pollution of Delhi was about 2 percent and the share of road dust was 1 percent. Pollution has increased by more than 1.3 percent due to burning of garbage, which is a constant matter of concern in the city. The operation of Delhi's energy sources contributes 1.7 per cent of the capital's total emissions. Apart from local sources, a lot of pollution is also coming from neighboring cities. Among these cities, Ghaziabad was the biggest contributor, accounting for 9 percent of Delhi's pollution.
Pollution situation in Delhi is worrying
The pollution situation in Delhi is getting worse day by day and a big example of this is Anand Vihar, where the Air Quality Index (AQI) has reached the 'very poor' category. The main reason for AQI being above 450 in Anand Vihar is not smoke, but dust. Here the amount of PM 10 particles is increasing, which are four times larger in size than PM 2.5 particles and spread due to dust. There are many reasons for pollution in Delhi and the situation of every area is different. For example, the pollution level in Jahangirpuri reached 440 on Tuesday morning and there too the main reason is not smoke but dust. Both Anand Vihar and Jahangirpuri are areas where there is heavy vehicular movement, due to which there is a lot of dust on the roads.
Solution needs to be found soon
In Wazirpur too, AQI has reached 437 and here too PM 10 particles are mainly responsible for pollution. The situation is similar at Dwarka NSIT station also. Apart from these, the main cause of pollution at stations like Ashok Vihar, Bawana, Moti Nagar, Lajpat Nagar, Vivek Vihar and Punjabi Bagh is PM 2.5 i.e. smoke. It is clear from these examples that there are various causes of pollution in Delhi and they need to be addressed location wise. Both dust and smoke are main factors of pollution and need organized efforts to control them. Initiatives like traffic management, road cleaning and control of industrial emissions can help in this. For the health of Delhiites, it is important that the problem of pollution be solved as soon as possible.
How is air quality measured?
If the AQI of an area is between zero to 50 then the AQI is 'good', 51 to 100 AQI is 'satisfactory', 101 to 200 is 'moderate', if the AQI of a place is between 201 to 300 then that area AQI is considered 'poor'. If AQI is between 301 to 400 then it is considered to be in 'very bad' category and if AQI is between 401 to 500 then it is considered to be in 'severe' category. Air pollution can cause many types of diseases. On this basis, restrictions of GRAP category are imposed in Delhi-NCR. Let us tell you that after the implementation of GRAP-2, 5 major restrictions have also been imposed.
What is GRAP?
GRAPE means GRAPE. The full name of GRAP is Graded Response Action Plan. This is a government scheme, which has been made against the increasing pollution in Delhi-NCR. Pollution is controlled through this scheme. Actually, it has many stages and as pollution increases, these stages also increase. As the phases increase, restrictions also increase in Delhi.
GRAP has 4 steps
- When the air in Delhi deteriorates to 201 to 300 AQI, the first phase is implemented.
- After this, if the air becomes worse and AQI reaches 301 to 400, then its second phase is implemented.
- If the air becomes very bad i.e. AQI exceeds 400 then the third phase is implemented.
- If the situation worsens then the fourth level of GRAP is implemented.
These restrictions will be implemented in Delhi-NCR under GRAP-2
- There will be a ban on running diesel generators.
- Parking charges will be increased to reduce the use of private vehicles.
- Mechanical/vacuum sweeping and water sprinkling will be done on the roads daily.
- CNG-electric buses and metro services will be increased.
- The RWA will provide heaters to its security guards so that they do not burn garbage, wood or coal for warmth.
- Generators running on natural gas, biogas, LPG will be able to run.
- Generators with capacity more than 800 kilowatts will be able to run only when retrofitting is done.