The air quality in the national capital continued to remain in the the 'severe plus' category for the second consecutive day on Tuesday with smog shrouding the city, reducing visibility and worsening air pollution to touch an alarmingly high level of poor AQI. As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the national capital recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) at 488 as of 8 am, placing it in the 'severe plus' category.
At such high Air Quality Index (AQI) levels, the air is considered hazardous to health, particularly for vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly, and people with respiratory or heart conditions.
In the wake of these developments, restrictions under GRAP 4 have been imposed in the city and as part of the curbs, there is a ban on construction and demolition activities, including linear public projects such as highways, roads, flyovers, overbridges, power transmission, and pipelines.
What are other restrictions under GRAP-4?
- As part of thee GRAP-4, a ban has been imposed on Delhi-registered BS-IV or older diesel medium and heavy goods vehicles.
- All trucks and commercial vehicles registered outside Delhi will not be allowed to enter the national capital.
- Due to air pollution, schools have been shifted online mode.
- Public and private offices have also been asked to work at 50 per cent capacity and the rest have been recommended to work from home.
What more restirctions to be imposed if air quality further plunges?
- The Delhi government may consider additional emergency measures such as the closure of non-emergency commercial activities, and permitting the running of vehicles on an odd-even basis of registration numbers if the air quality further plunges.
- The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) is also planning to implement additional measures to tackle the pollution crisis.
- To ease road congestion in the city, Delhi Metro is operating additional trips and the government is encouraging citizens to carpool and use public transport.
