AQI woes: Delhi govt to use dust suppression tech to combat ‘poor’ air

Air quality in Delhi on October 20, 21, and 22 surged past the 160 levels

Delhi's air quality remained bad on October 23 evening, sliding into the “poor” category of the Supreme Court-mandated Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) with an AQI reading of 263, which saw the city government issue directions to step up the frequency of metro and buses and use dust suppressants on roads and open areas.

The reading though witnessed a slight improvement on the air quality index (AQI) at 313 at 4 pm on October 22. The AQI quality was in the 'very poor' category, which saw the central pollution watchdog order Stage II of GRAP on October 21.

As Stage-II measures under GRAP largely remained unimplemented on October 23, Delhi's environment minister Gopal Rai chaired a review meeting.

The actions mandated under Stage II include increasing parking fees to discourage the use of private vehicles and adding an additional metro fleet to increase the frequency of the service.

Talking to the media after the meeting, the minister said directions were issued to increase the frequency of metro and buses in Delhi.

"On routes where the waiting time for a metro is currently 7-8 minutes, the same would be brought down to 5 minutes. Routes where the frequency is of 5 minutes, will be reduced to 2-3 minutes. Directions have been issued to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) accordingly," Rai said.

To curb dust pollution, the Delhi government has decided to add dust suppressant powder to the water used for sprinkling in public places, especially roads.

Rai pulled up officials as top bureaucrats, including the secretaries of the environment and public works departments, gave the meeting a miss. He asked Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to direct heads of departments to take the issue of air pollution seriously.

Officials from 28 Delhi government departments attended the meeting but most of them were junior officials.

"When only junior officials attend meetings of such serious matters, then somewhere down the line the implementation of key measures is not done as seriously. I urge the top bureaucrats of the Delhi government to take air pollution seriously and act accordingly as we all are duty bound to do so," Rai told reporters.

Breathless 

The dip in air quality on October 22 was the result of low wind speed and a drop in temperature, the minister said. "There are 13 pollution hotspots in Delhi. Eight more locations have clocked AQI higher than 300. Special teams will be deployed in these areas to identify the cause of pollution," he said.

The minister said 91 congestion points were and traffic officials were told to streamline vehicular movement in these areas. District magistrates have been asked to hold meetings with residents welfare associations (RWAs) to curb the burning of waste and to provide electric heaters to security guards as the winters progress. These measures are mandated under the GRAP.

Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) categorises actions into four stages: Stage I – 'Poor' (AQI 201-300); Stage II – 'Very Poor' (AQI 301-400); Stage III – 'Severe' (AQI 401-450); and Stage IV – 'Severe Plus' (AQI >450).

India's financial capital Mumbai and national capital Delhi are yet again competing for the top spot, but this time a dubious one, in the air pollution category.

Air quality in Delhi on October 20, 21, and 22 surged past the 160 levels seen in Mumbai during the corresponding period and skyrocketed to 250 plus levels, reaching a peak of 340 on the night of October 21.

While the financial capital has been waking to a thick blanket of smog owing to a rapid increase in construction activity, the national capital has been falling asleep to a ghastly layer of clag that has engulfed the city for the past three days.