Page 11 - Air Pollution

Air quality-driven construction ban may delay realty projects in Delhi-NCR

568,000 housing units are under various stages of completion. Periodic bans by NGT, govt, or apex court in response to poor air quality have serious consequences, say experts

Smog-covered festivities for Delhi-NCR as stubble burning, Diwali coincide

Ongoing construction across NCR to exacerbate situation; While the number of residue-burning cases reported so far is about half of last year's figure, it is likely to shoot up in the days ahead

Stubble burning: Bio-decomposer to be sprayed in Delhi fields from today

The Delhi government will start spraying Pusa bio-decomposer in agricultural fields to prevent stubble burning in the capital from Tuesday, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said. Prepared by scientists at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) here, the Pusa bio-decomposer is a microbial solution which can turn paddy straw into manure in 15-20 days. The solution will be sprayed on 5,000 acres of basmati and non-basmati fields in the capital this year. The Pusa bio-decomposer was used on 4,300 acres of land belonging to 844 farmers in Delhi last year. In 2020, 310 farmers had used it on 1,935 acres of land. The Delhi government has set up 21 teams to create awareness about the effectiveness of bio-decomposer and register farmers who want to use the solution in their fields. According to officials, spraying of bio-decomposer costs just Rs 30 per acre. In 2021, a third-party audit conducted to ascertain the impact of the microbial solution in Delhi showed that it was 95 per

Air pollution: 491 construction, demolition sites in Delhi-NCR to be shut

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) said on Saturday it has issued directions for the closure of 491 construction and demolition sites, including 110 in Delhi, for flouting air pollution control norms. The CAQM has set up 40 flying squads to rigorously monitor enforcement and compliance of its directions to ameliorate the air quality of Delhi-NCR. These flying squads have inspected more than 8,580 construction and demolition sites till October 14. Closure directions have been issued to 491 defaulters -- 110 in Delhi, 118 in Haryana, 211 in Uttar Pradesh and 52 in Rajasthan -- a statement said. The flying squads have been conducting surprise inspections and field-level incognito checks at industrial units, construction and demolition sites, commercial and residential units, air pollution hotspots, etc. The CAQM also advised state implementing agencies, including state pollution control boards and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, to ensure compliance and strict ...

Delhi: CAQM advises implementation of air pollution norms, warns of action

Intensifying its actions in the battle against air pollution in Delhi-NCR in the coming days, the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) urged all concerned including Industries and Project Proponents of Construction and Demolition (C & D) sites to strictly follow the statutory directions issued by the Commission, said the officials on Saturday.The general masses have also been advised to strictly follow the steps highlighted in the Citizen Charter in each stage of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in the coming days.The 40 inspection teams/ flying squads constituted by the Commission are under directions to intensify inspections, supervise and rigorously monitor enforcement and compliance of statutory directions issued by the Commission to ameliorate the air quality of Delhi-NCR.These flying squads will conduct surprise inspections and field-level incognito checks at industrial units, C & D sites, commercial/ residential units, air ...

40 flying squads to monitor compliance of air pollution norms in Delhi

The CAQM in NCR and adjoining areas has urged all concerned including industries and construction agencies to strictly follow the statutory directions issued by the Commission

CP smog tower has noticeable impact on Delhi air pollution: Gopal Rai

The smog tower at Connaught Place here has a noticeable impact on air pollution up to a distance of 300 metres, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Friday. Within a radius of 50 metres, the giant air purifier is able to cut down air pollution by 70 to 80 per cent. It reduces pollution levels by 15 to 20 per cent beyond 300 metres, he told reporters. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal inaugurated the over 24-metre-high smog tower at Connaught Place on August 23 last year. The city government had formed a team of experts from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, IIT-Bombay, NBCC and Tata Projects to study its impact over two years. Officials had earlier said the Rs 20 crore smog tower can purify the air in a one-km radius at a rate of around 1,000 cubic metres per second. Rai said the construction of more smog towers in the capital would depend on the success of the pilot project. The smog tower at Baba Kharak Singh Marg has 5,000 coarse filters and 5,000 fine filters develo

Air quality likely to worsen in next few days due to stubble burning

Now that the rains and strong winds have stopped, the national capital will witness air pollution rising, said Dr Ravi Kant Pathak

700 stubble fires in Punjab this year so far: State Agriculture Minister

As many as 700 incidents of stubble burning reported in Punjab so far this year, said the state's Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal on Wednesday

Delhi sees season's first fog; air quality enter poor category by weekend

Delhi reported the season's first episode of fog on Wednesday morning which lowered visibility levels to 350 metres in some parts of the capital. The city recorded a minimum temperature of 20.2 degrees Celsius, a notch below the normal. The maximum temperature settled at around 31 degrees Celsius. Senior scientist at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) R K Jenamani said the increased moisture content in the air due to a prolonged spell of rain and low temperatures led to the formation of moderate fog in Delhi. "This is the capital's first fog of the season," he said. According to the IMD, very dense fog is when visibility is between 0 and 50 metres, 51 and 200 is dense, 201 and 500 moderate, and 501 and 1,000 metres shallow . Another IMD official said visibility at the Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi's primary weather station, had dropped to 600 metres and to 350 metres at the Palam weather station at 8.30 am. This improved to 2,100 metres at Palam by 9 am and at Safdarjung

CAQM asks agencies to develop gas infrastructure in NCR before next winter

The Centre's panel on air quality has directed the agencies concerned to develop a proper gas infrastructure across the national capital region (NCR) before the next winter. The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) held a review meeting with the 11 gas distributors of NCR and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to take stock of the commissioning of gas infrastructure, piped natural gas (PNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) connectivity in the districts of the NCR. According to the CAQM, about 74 per cent of industrial areas of NCR have gas connectivity like PNG which is cleaner and emits less pollutants as compared to the conventional fuel like coal or diesel. The panel directed the 11 city gas distributors to ensure that the gas infrastructure covers the entire NCR. The NCR has 240 industrial areas of which gas connectivity and infrastructure has been achieved in 74.5 per cent industrial areas. In NCR, there are 963 CNG stations, 22,24,055 domestic PNG connections,

Over 125,000 old vehicles to be deregistered in Noida to control pollution

Over 1.25 lakh old vehicles registered in Gautam Buddh Nagar will be taken off the roads in compliance with a National Green Tribunal order on phasing out diesel and petrol vehicles older than 10 and 15 years, respectively, from the national capital region. The district transport department has started a campaign to phase out such vehicles and begun contacting their owners from October 1 following an Uttar Pradesh government order, officials said. Assistant Regional Transport Officer (ARTO) Siyaram Verma said, "These vehicles will either be scrapped or a no-objection certificate (NOC) issued for their usage so that they could be used in some select districts that do not fall under NCR." Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Ganesh Saha told PTI that the police department, on its part, was also carrying out stricter checks and penalising old vehicles found plying on the roads. The Uttar Pradesh government order said there were 34 districts with better air quality where such vehicl

Smog tower in Anand Vihar brought pollution down by only 17%: Report

The 82-feet tall tower reduced PM2.5 pollutants by 13% in December 2021, 7% in March, and 17% in April

Backed by strong winds Delhi records cleanest day after Dussehra since 2015

On the day of Dussehra, the AQI was at 211 under the "poor" category. It fell to 79 the next day, under the "satisfactory" category

Graded Response Action Plan: Battling high air pollution in Delhi-NCR

As winter approaches, Delhi-NCR has been placed under the stage 1 measures of GRAP. Read more to find out what exactly is GRAP

Hyperlocal emissions behind spike in Delhi's air pollution after Dussehra

Delhi's air quality turned poor on Dussehra, though the early warning system of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology had predicted moderate to satisfactory air quality in the capital. IITM officials said that they did not record any substantial changes in parameters like temperature, wind speed and emissions from farm fires on October 5 and "hyperlocal emissions" could have impacted the air quality. The possible sources of these emissions could be the large number of effigies burnt on the occasion of Dussehra and during a political protest, they said. With the air quality in Delhi dropping to the 'poor' category on Wednesday, authorities in the National Capital Region (NCR) have been asked to strictly implement measures under "Stage 1" of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) which include penal and legal action against polluting industrial units. The Centre's sub-committee on GRAP noted in a meeting that there has been a "sudden dip" in air quality parameters in the regio

Delhi's air quality turns 'poor'; CAQM to enforce stage-1 control measures

Measures under stage-1 of the Graded Response Action Plan will be enforced in the NCR with immediate effect, according to an order issued by the Commission for Air Quality Management

How Delhi effigy makers bounced back in business post-Covid pandemic

Apart from making effigies two-three months before the festive season, the artisans usually get their source of income from different businesses for the rest of the year

Best of BS Opinion: A non-hyphenated democracy, development by HAL & more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

CPCB readies 40 teams to track polluters as NCR air quality worsens

Newly formed teams to help implement preemptive measure under revised GRAP; Delhi govt has created 300 separate teams