Even as the air quality in the national capital saw a slight improvement by settling in the ‘poor category’ instead of the constant ‘very poor’ category, the Commission for Air Quality Management on Tuesday decided to get tough on violators and ordered an immediate closure of industries that are not running on gas and cleaner fuels in the industrial areas in the National Capital Region (NCR).
Sources in the government told News18 that flying squads are doing rigorous inspections of different sites that are contributing to the deteriorating air quality of Delhi-NCR.
The Air Quality Index (AQI) in the city read 268 at 9.05 am on Tuesday. The AQI in Gurgaon and Greater Noida was recorded at 258 and 215 respectively. Neighbouring Faridabad (256) and Noida (247) also recorded their air quality in the poor category.
The Ministry of Earth Sciences’ air quality monitoring agency SAFAR had said on Monday that a moderate wind speed is likely over the next two days and the minimum temperature is likely to drop in the national capital. “The net effect is that the air quality will remain within the upper-end of the poor category or the lower-end of the very poor category,” it said.
The commission’ s flying squads or inspections teams have identified 140 sites in the NCR region that violate the anti-air pollution measures determined by the commission.
Of these, 30 are in Delhi, 43 in Uttar Pradesh, 23 in Haryana and 15 in Rajasthan. CAQM stated that till Sunday, its flying squads had inspected 576 sites across NCR, Times of India reported.
The CAQM had constituted a five-member “Enforcement Task Force” (ETF) last week to monitor and supervise the implementation of its directions through inspection teams or flying squads.
Twelve inspection teams each have been constituted for the NCR districts of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi, while four teams have been deputed in the national capital region (NCR) districts of Rajasthan, the statement said.
The ETF has been holding exhaustive review meetings with the 40 flying squads. These teams have been inspecting industrial units, construction and demolition sites, commercial and residential units, air pollution hotspots, etc. and reporting to the commission daily, it said.
According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), AQI is likely to oscillate within the upper and lower ends of “very poor”.
“For December 7, winds are likely to be moderate, increasing ventilation. Minimum temperatures are likely to drop gradually leading to more stable atmosphere. The net effect is that air quality remains within ‘upper end of poor’ or ‘lower end of very poor’. On December 8 and 9, winds are expected to be low and AQI is likely to remain ‘very poor’. Low mixing-layer height is preventing efficient dispersion of pollutants,” it said.
The volume of PM2.5 oscillated between 123.4 and 155.3 micrograms per cubic metres, according to Central Pollution Control Board.
This is less than Sunday’s, but still over the national safe limit of 60 units.
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