Delhi scales up pollution fight, but red zone nears

City may suffer because longterm goals not met

The national capital on Thursday rolled out its most elaborate, multilayered system yet to fight air pollution, but the air quality is again poised to plummet into the red zone around Diwali because, experts say, Delhi’s response is still of an emergency nature rather than a long-term plan.

From November 1 to 10, the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) has banned construction and digging in the National Capital Region (NCR), shut down the Mundka industrial area, and stopped all brick kilns, stone crushers and hot mix plants.

All diesel generator sets, as well as the Badarpur power plant, have already been shut under the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) since October 15.

In addition, 52 joint teams comprising officials from central and state pollution control bodies and civic authorities were flagged off on Thursday to cover Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad, and report violations.

The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) also deployed 83 green marshals, which will be increased to 270 in the next few days, to report violations such as open garbage burning, dumping of construction waste, and fires in landfill sites.

The Supreme Court-appointed EPCA, which has come up with a list of pollution ‘hot spots’, also directed eight members to visit at least one such location and file reports on the local sources of air pollution, which contribute around 36% to the city’s pollution during winter, according to a recent report by The Energy Resources Institute (Teri) and the Automobile Research Association

of India (ARAI).

“Out of 52 joint teams that were flagged on Thursday – 44 will be deployed in Delhi, while two each would be deployed in the four satellite towns of Ghaziabad, Gurugram, Noida and Faridabad – will be deployed during the first 10 days of November when air quality is likely to worsen,” said a senior official of the Union environment ministry.

“The air marshals, whose number will be scaled up, are home guards who have volunteered

to serve as marshals and flag violations,” Delhi’s environment minister Imran Hussain told HT.

“For the first time, EPCA members have been asked to visit at least one hot spot such as Punjabi Bagh, DTU, Mundka and landfill sites of Ghazipur and Bhalswa and submit reports on what is triggering pollution, and suggest solutions,” said Bhure Lal, chairman of EPCA, who himself has taken charge of Anand Vihar, one of the most polluted areas of Delhi.