Season’s Greetings: Delhi sees most polluted day after Dussehra in 5 years, GRAP invoked

NEW DELHI: Delhi’s air quality deteriorated to poor for the first time this season as the AQI climbed to 245 Wednesday. It was 179 a day earlier.Delhi also saw the most polluted day after Dussehra in the last five years. An AQI higher than Wednesday’s was last recorded in 2021, when it was 284 the day after Dussehra.The air quality worsened due to unfavourable meteorological conditions and additional emissions from firecrackers that were burst during Dussehra celebrations. The contribution of stubble burning to Delhi’s PM2.5 was 3.9% Wednesday.The deterioration in air quality prompted Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to invoke Stage I of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).This includes a ban on the entry of intercity and inter-state buses from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and J&K that are below BS-VI standards and run on neither electricity nor CNG. Regulations on the use of diesel generator (DG) sets also kicked in.GRAP Stage I also asks for augmenting public transport through CNG and electric buses, metro and RRTS services by inducting an additional fleet and increasing the frequency of service. Delhi Metro will run 20 additional trips from Thursday onwards for all weekdays.“The forecast by India Meteorological Department and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology has also predicted that AQI will remain in the poor category in the coming days,” CAQM said.The commission added that actions under Stage I of GRAP will be implemented, monitored and reviewed by all the agencies in NCR to ensure that the AQI does not rise further.Central Pollution Control Board’s data shows that air quality showed a rising trend since early Wednesday. The AQI was 227 at 7am and touched 245 at 4pm, when CPCB releases its 24-hour average AQI bulletin. It increased to 248 at 8pm.This year, a higher AQI than 245 was last witnessed on July 24 at 246 in the poor category when dust travelled from Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan towards north-west India.The AQI was in the very poor category at seven locations Wednesday -- Pusa (329), Chandni Chowk (326), Jahangirpuri (313), Punjabi Bagh (312), Patparganj (304), Mandir Marg (303) and Vivek Vihar (302).Mahesh Palawat, vice-president of Skymet Meteorology, said the worsening air quality could be attributed to the Dussehra celebrations, including the burning of the Ravana effigies.“Falling night temperatures and light winds may have further contributed to the deterioration.... Traffic emissions, industrial smoke and dust tend to accumulate under such conditions, while fireworks during the celebrations may also have contributed to the overnight rise in pollution. The haze observed Wednesday followed Tuesday’s celebrations,” he said.The Decision Support System (DSS), which functions under the Union ministry of earth sciences, has estimated that the contribution of stubble burning to Delhi’s pollution could rise to 7.4% Thursday, 15.9% Friday and 4.1% Saturday.Sunil Dahiya, founder of the think tank Envirocatalyst, said: “The slow moving wind coming from the northwest, bringing more emission load from farm fires and festive emission load, Tuesday evening to night,” had added to other regional sources as well as emissions from within Delhi.In Oct last year, the AQI worsened to poor on Oct 14. It was 211. It deteriorated to very poor by Oct 20 at 345 last year.Delhi Traffic Police has urged commuters to reduce vehicular emissions. It advised people to use the metro and public transport, carpool and avoid unnecessary trips, maintain their vehicles and keep valid Pollution Under Control Certificates (PUCCs).You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Delhi | Silver Rate in Delhi | Bank Holidays in Delhi | Public Holidays in Delhi | Delhi AQI | Weather in Delhi | Petrol Price in Delhi | Diesel Price in Delhi | CNG Price in Delhi | LPG Price in DelhiStay updated with the latest Delhi news. Download the TOI App.