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Delhi stays in the 'poor' zone at AQI 226 as CAQM orders a crackdown on dust
A day after GRAP Stage I came into force, the air quality commission told the MCD to tighten dust control on roads and building sites and warned officials of strict action if its orders are ignored.
Key points
- Delhi's AQI was 226 at 7 am on Thursday, the second straight 'poor' day.
- Jahangirpuri and Chandni Chowk had slipped into 'very poor' on Wednesday.
- The MCD has put out 167 water sprinklers and 40 mobile anti-smog guns across its 12 zones.
Delhi woke to a second straight day of ‘poor’ air on Thursday, with the city’s air quality index at 226 at 7 am according to Central Pollution Control Board data, as the air quality commission turned its attention to the dust rising off the capital’s roads and building sites.
The reading was a shade better than Wednesday, when the AQI climbed from 179 on Tuesday to 245, the worst in about 100 days, a day after Dussehra effigies stuffed with firecrackers were burned across the city. No direct link between the celebrations and the spike has been established. Two monitoring stations, Jahangirpuri at 309 and Chandni Chowk at 307, slipped into the ‘very poor’ band on Wednesday.
The jump led the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to invoke Stage I of the Graded Response Action Plan across Delhi and the National Capital Region, after IMD and IITM forecasts showed the air staying ‘poor’ in the coming days. The order asks residents to “strictly adhere to the citizen charter under GRAP Stage-1.”
Dust in the spotlight
CAQM chairperson Rajesh Verma and Delhi’s Chief Secretary reviewed dust control with government departments. The commission told the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to step up dust suppression on roads and open land and flagged missing barriers and dust screens at construction sites. Officials were warned that failure to carry out its directions could invite strict action.
The MCD said it had intensified road cleaning across its 12 zones and deployed 167 water sprinklers and 40 mobile anti-smog guns. Another 40 anti-smog guns have been fixed at municipal buildings and high-rises, dumping sites for construction and demolition waste have been marked in all 250 wards, and cameras at 125 sites feed images to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee. Joint teams have been formed to act against illegal dumping, burning of biomass and construction dust.
Stage I measures also cover tighter road sweeping, water sprinkling and action against open burning of waste.
Warm, humid and still
The weather offered little help. The minimum temperature was 19.7 degrees Celsius, 1.7 degrees above normal, and humidity stood at 89 per cent at 8:30 am. Skies were forecast to stay mainly clear with a high near 32 degrees.
Relief may come at the weekend. The weather office expects isolated to scattered rain over Delhi, Haryana and Punjab on 24 and 25 October as a western disturbance moves in.
Delhi is not alone. In Lucknow, the municipal corporation sprayed water on main roads as the Lalbagh station recorded an AQI of 223, also in the ‘poor’ range.
The CPCB’s daily 4 pm bulletin will give Thursday’s full 24-hour average.