Delhi govt enforces GRAP III measures, staggers office timings to battle 'severe' pollution

New Delhi: The Delhi government has banned private BS III petrol and BS IV diesel vehicles, prohibited the entry of interstate non-electric-CNG buses, certain categories of construction activities, and staggered government office timings, as the city choked under 'severe'-category air pollution Friday morning.

The restrictions were imposed under stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan, or GRAP, announced by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Thursday.

The air quality index in Delhi was 411 (severe) at 9 am on Friday, according to official data. However, with wind speed picking up, the average 24-hour AQI at 4 pm came down to 396, still in the 'very poor' category.

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said the situation will improve further with higher wind speed on Saturday.

Chief Minister Atishi announced staggered timings for government offices in the city to ease traffic congestion given the pollution levels.

Under the schedule announced by her in a post on X, central government offices will operate from 9 am to 5.30 pm, Delhi government offices from 10 am to 6.30 pm, and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) offices from 8.30 am to 5 pm.

Delhi LG V K Saxena issued a note approving the staggered government office timings till February 2025, expressing dissatisfaction that a measure that should have been in place as a pre-emptive step was implemented with a delay of several days.

He said it was expected that the Delhi government would ensure strict enforcement of other measures discussed in a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on pollution control on October 24.

Rai in a press conference, announced various steps taken by the government to deal with the crisis.

Delhi's air quality has been in the 'severe' category for the last two days.

The government will run 106 shuttle buses and the Metro trains will make 60 extra trips daily to promote public transport. There will be a blanket ban on private construction and demolition activities while necessary government construction works will continue, he said.

Government officials living across the city will be transported in 40 dedicated shuttle buses to discourage the use of private vehicles by them, he said.

Private BS III petrol and BS IV diesel vehicles were banned from roads with violations inviting a penalty of Rs 20,000. Diesel and petrol inter-state buses from the NCR cities to Delhi are also banned.

The transport department has deployed 84 teams, with an additional 280 personnel for catching violators, Rai said.

City schools for Classes up to 5 will shift to online mode after the weekend. Principals and teachers of several private schools said they were using apps and smart boards to deal with the situation.

Mahesh Palawat of Skymet Weather Services told PTI that the air quality improved on Friday due to wind speeds of 8 to 12 kmph.

While the AQI will remain in the 'very poor' category on Saturday, it will improve comparatively.

Out of Delhi's 39 monitoring stations, 18 reported air quality in the 'severe' category, down from 27 in the morning, according to Sameer app, which provides hourly updates of the national AQI published by the Central Pollution Control Board.

These stations include Alipur, Anand Vihar, Ashok Vihar, Aya Nagar, Bawana, DTU, Dwarka Sector 8, IGI Airport, Jahangirpuri, Mundka, Narela, Nehru Nagar, Patparganj and Punjabi Bagh.

According to the Centre's Decision Support System for Air Quality Management, stubble burning was the highest contributor to Delhi's pollution on Thursday, accounting for approximately 33.3 per cent of the total.

Vehicular emissions contributed an estimated 11.9 per cent to Delhi's pollution on Friday.

The prominent pollutant, according to the CPCB, was PM2.5, which are fine particles with a diameter of 2.5 micrometres or less, about the width of a human hair.

These particles are so small that they can penetrate deep into the lungs and even enter the bloodstream, posing significant health risks.