New Delhi: With Delhi’s air quality in the ‘severe’ category in several parts, the Union government plans add 15-20 more air quality monitoring (AQM) stations in the National Capital Region (NCR), in addition to the existing 40, two officials said. Installation of more AQMs will help the government determine the sources, identify areas and come up with solutions to mitigate NCR pollution.
The cost for each station is expected to be ₹1 crore and will be borne by the ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC), the officials said.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), over 14 areas in Delhi had an air quality index (AQI) reading of over 400 on Sunday. The average AQI in the national capital was 417 on Saturday. With 418 AQI, the air quality sank to the ‘severe’ category for the first time this season on Wednesday.
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An AQI reading of 0-50 is categorized as ‘good’, 51-100 as ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 201-300 ‘poor’, 301-400 very poor’ and 401-500 ‘severe’.
“The coverage is being expanded and refined due to the high population. Non-residential and forests will also be monitored through new stations,” one of the officials said. “This is for Delhi for the time being and will get us data at the micro level. With this, we will get to know about air quality and based on it, we will come up with a mitigation plan.”
“The monitoring data is live with an interval of 5-15 minutes. Like other stations, new stations will cover eight particles such as PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, ammonia, benzene, ozone and carbon monoxide,” the official added.
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“Setting up one station will require at least ₹1 crore,” the other official said when asked about expenditure, adding that while they are yet to kick off the process, the decision to install additional stations has already been taken. “CAQM (Commission for Air Quality Management) will be in charge of the initiative with funding from the finance ministry via MoEFCC.”
Queries sent to the secretary and spokespeople of MoEFCC and the CAQM director remained unanswered at press time.
After stage 1 and 2, stage 3 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) was implemented on Friday, halting non-essential construction, demolition and activities in polluting industries, bans in-person classes up to Class 5, and restricts BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel vehicles.
The CAQM has deputed 26 central teams to hotspot districts in Punjab and Haryana to coordinate with district-level authorities to control paddy stubble burning.
To be sure, incidents of stubble burning Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh fell to 23,774 between 15 September and 16 November this year from 47,248 cases during the corresponding period last year, according to a Sunday bulletin from CREAMS-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, which monitors satellite data on crop residue and burning.
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In another measure, the Union government on 7 November amended the CAQM rules for the NCR and adjoining areas and increased the penalty to up to ₹30,000 for stubble burning to combat rising pollution after sharp criticism from the Supreme Court, which had previously described earlier penalties as ineffective.
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