Amid rising concerns over the deteriorating air quality in the national capital, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai has called for a meeting on Friday to discuss the implementation of stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).
In an exclusive chat with ANI over the phone, Rai said, “A meeting of all the concerned departments has been called on Friday at 12:00 p.m. to discuss the effective implementation of stage III of GRAP”.
Meanwhile, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) earlier today announced the implementation of stage III of GRAP in the wake of declining air quality.
A ban has been imposed on construction work in the National Capital Region (NCR).
However, exemptions have been made for railway services, metro services, healthcare-related activities, defence-related activities, etc.
The decision was taken in a meeting of the sub-committee under the GRAP held earlier today.
The committee has also urged the state government to contemplate discontinuing offline classes till class V.
According to the CAQM, the GRAP for the NCR has been classified under four different stages of adverse air quality in Delhi viz. Stage I ‘Poor’ (AQI 201-300). Stage II ‘Very poor’ (AQI 301-400), Stage III ‘Severe’ (AQI 401-450) and Stage IV ‘Severe +’ (AQI>450).
The action plan was implemented as an emergency response mechanism to poor air quality levels. But this time, the government implemented GRAP even before the worsening of Delhi’s air quality.
Meanwhile, the air quality of the national capital continued to remain in the ‘very poor’ category on Thursday for the fifth day in a row with an Air Quality Index of 346, according to SAFAR-India.
As per the SAFAR-India, the city’s AQI has been in the ‘very poor’ category since Sunday (309).
Since then, the air quality has continued to go to rack and ruin in Delhi.
The AQI was recorded at 322 on Monday and 327 on Tuesday against 336 on Wednesday, as per the data provided by the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR)-India.
The commuters are facing health issues and there is no sign of amelioration. (ANI)
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