Delhi imposes curbs on construction work, vehicles as air quality ‘severe’

Delhi’s overall AQI has been steadily rising since Friday morning. It touched 405 on Friday evening.

Meanwhile, a layer of fog engulfed Delhi on Saturday morning as the temperature dropped. The Met Office has predicted light rain in the national capital in the next 24 hours. However, it is unlikely to improve the air quality.

Delhi Transport and Environment Minister Kailash Gahlot on Friday said Stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) had been invoked in Delhi with immediate effect, considering that the national capital’s Air Quality Index (AQI) had entered the ‘severe’ category.

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), a statutory body, on Friday issued orders to impose a ban on non-essential construction work and the operation of BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel four-wheelers in Delhi-NCR due to the deteriorating air quality in the region.

“NCR State governments/GNCTD to impose strict restrictions on plying of BS III petrol and BS IV diesel LMVs (4-wheelers) in Delhi and in the districts of Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar. State governments in NCR and GNCTD may take a decision on discontinuing physical classes in schools for children up to Class V and conducting classes in an online mode’,” the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change stated.

AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’; between 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’; between 101 and 200 ‘moderate’; between 201 and 300 ‘poor’; between 301 and 400 ‘very poor’; and between 401 and 500 ‘severe’.