Delhi air pollution crisis worsens as more areas come under 'severe' category

The Delhi air pollution crisis worsened on Saturday with many areas coming in the severe category even as authorities intensified their efforts by imposing penalties totalling around Rs 585 crore on the first day of antipollution measures under the third stage of the Graded Response Action Plan GRAP news agency PTI reportedThe citys 24hour Air Quality Index AQI recorded at 4 pm stood at 417 making it the worst in the country On Friday the AQI level was 396According to the Central Pollution Control Board CPCB air in the severe category poses risks to healthy individuals and severely impacts those with existing health conditionsAccording to PTI of the 39 monitoring stations in the national capital the data shared by CPCB showed that all except for Sri Aurobindo Marg reported air quality in the severe category with AQI levels above 400After Delhi Jind in Haryana recorded the secondworst air quality with a reading of 394 while Bahadurgarh also in Haryana ranked third with a reading of 388An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered good 51 and 100 satisfactory 101 and 200 moderate 201 and 300 poor 301 and 400 very poor 401 and 450 severe and above 450 severe plusRs 485crore fines collected from motorists in Delhi without PUC certificatesAs the third stage of GRAP came into force on Friday authorities intensified action against violators with teams from the traffic police transport department and other agencies issuing fines PTI reported On Friday alone the Delhi Traffic Police issued around 550 challans for violations including a ban on Bharat Stage BSIII petrol and BSIV diesel vehicles imposing a fine of more than Rs 1 crore on the first day of restrictionsA penalty of Rs 20000 is imposed on those violating this rule Diesel and petrol interstate buses except for BSVI diesel buses are also banned from entering the national capital amid the Delhi air pollution crisisThe police also cracked down on vehicles without Pollution Under Control Certificates PUCC issuing fines to 4855 vehicles totalling Rs 485 crore A fine of Rs 10000 is imposed on motorists without a valid PUCCDuring an inspection of buses at the Kashmiri Gate interstate bus terminal on Saturday Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party BJPruled neighbouring states were exacerbating air pollution in the capital by sending BSIV diesel buses despite the banThe BJP governments are deliberately sending diesel buses to Delhi which is prohibited under the current guidelines to worsen air pollution Rai said pointing to Haryana Uttar Pradesh and RajasthanIn response Rai announced that a total of 84 enforcement teams from the Transport Department and 280 teams from the Traffic Police had been mobilised to ensure strict adherence to the banStubble burning was the main contributor to the Delhi air pollution crisisAdditionally a stringent ban on construction and demolition activities has been imposed along with the suspension of miningrelated activities and daily water sprinkling on major roads Schools for classes up to 5 will shift to online mode after the weekendThe GRAP for DelhiNCR is divided into four stages based on air quality Stage 1 for poor air quality AQI ranging from 201 to 300 Stage 2 for very poor air quality AQI from 301 to 400 Stage 3 for severe air quality AQI from 401 to 450 and Stage 4 for severe plus air quality AQI above 450Meanwhile old age homes across the city are intensifying measures to protect the elderly including strict restrictions on outdoor activities during peak pollution hours mandatory mask use and keeping oxygen cylinders on standby for emergenciesAccording to the Centres Decision Support System for Air Quality Management stubble burning was the main contributor to the Delhi air pollution crisis on Thursday accounting for 3737 of the total pollution Vehicular emissions contributed approximately 1237 to the overall pollutionThe prominent pollutant was PM25 according to the CPCB PM25 refers to fine particles with a diameter of 25 micrometres or lessmdashabout the width of a human hair These particles are small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs and even enter the bloodstream posing significant health risksWith PTI inputs