GRAP Stage III restrictions imposed: Delhi air ‘severe’ for 2nd day, SC to hear petition on pollution on Nov 18

“Since yesterday we have been in severe mode. Only to avoid this situation, this court has asked them to take preemptive action,” Singh told the bench. “They have not done anything. We should not become the most polluted city in the world,” she added.

Singh further said that she has intimated the Commission of Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) to list steps being put in place to improve the situation.

Delhi’s 24-hour Air Quality Index (AQI), recorded at 4 pm, stood at 424, up from 418 the previous day. The day saw the third stage of GRAP, including a ban on construction activities and plying of BS III petrol and BS IV diesel vehicles, being imposed in the city and NCR.

The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune has forecast a slight improvement on Friday and Saturday – the AQI will be in the very poor range, it said. As per the Delhi Pollution Control Board’s hourly Particulate Matter (PM) figures, PM 10 levels on Thursday at Indian Gate peaked at 9 pm, and were recorded as 661 µg/m3 — over six times the standard of 100 µg/m3. An improvement was seen during the day, as temperatures rose but the improvement could not be sustained because of calm winds.

Farm fires — a major contributor to pollution in Delhi — meanwhile, continued in Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, with the four states recording the bulk of the stubble burning cases till date.

Of the 21,871 cases detected between September 15 and November 14, Madhya Pradesh topped the list with 8,917, Punjab was number two with 7,626 incidents, followed by Uttar Pradesh (2,375) and Rajasthan (1,907), the portal of Indian Agricultural Research Institute in New Delhi showed.

The impact of farm fires on Delhi’s air has been between 17% and 20% over the past week but rose to 30% on Wednesday.

During the hearing on Thursday, the SC bench — which is hearing matters related to stubble burning — noted a reluctance on part of the Haryana and Punjab governments to prosecute officials who had flouted CAQM orders aimed at preventing crop burning.

“Even as of today, we find reluctance on part of both governments in taking action in terms of Section 14 of the CAQM Act,” the bench said. Under the section, prosecution action has been initiated against those who flout CAQM orders.

The bench referred to an earlier order where it had said, “Instead of initiating prosecution, the states are busy giving showcause notices to the officers. We are talking about flagrant breaches of the order of the commission passed three years back. The states owe an explanation to the court for their inaction.” It asked the states to file fresh affidavits within three months showing compliance with its order.