New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: With the air quality deteriorating to “severe plus” category in the Delhi-NCR region, the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority on Friday declared a public health emergency and asked schools to curtail all outdoor activities and sports till November 5 to minimise exposure of children to pollution.
The Supreme Court mandated panel also banned construction activities till November 5 and also the bursting of crackers during the winter season.
The EPCA, in a letter to chief secretaries of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, said, "The air quality in Delhi and NCR deteriorated further last night and is now at the severe plus level. We have to take this as a public heath emergency as it will have adverse health impacts on all, particularly our children."
Under these circumstances, the panel said, construction activities, hot mix plants and stone crushers in Delhi, Faridabad, Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Noida and Greater Noida will remain closed till morning of November 5.
Delhi-NCR region woke up to a thick blanket of haze over the sky with the national capital's pollution levels increasing overnight.
The EPCA said pollution touched "severe plus" levels early on Friday morning but came back to "severe" category later.
According to official data, the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) at 1 pm on Friday was recorded at 480, which falls in the "severe" category.
An AQI between 0-50 is considered 'good', 51-100 'satisfactory', 101-200 'moderate', 201-300 'poor', 301-400 'very poor' and 401-500 'severe'. Above 500 falls in the 'severe-plus emergency' category.
Delhi's air quality, despite being better than last year, continues to deteriorate after Diwali despite the Graded Response Action Plan being imposed in the national capital. The odd-even car rationing scheme will be brought into effect from November 4 to November 15.
Earlier, the EPCA had banned construction activities only for the period between 6 pm and 10 am till November 2. Now, no construction can take place even in daytime.
EPCA directed that all coal and other fuel-based industries, which have not shifted to natural gas or agro-residue, will remain shut in Faridabad, Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Noida, Bahadurgarh, Bhiwadi, Greater Noida, Sonepat, Panipat till the morning of November 5.
In Delhi, industries, which have not yet shifted to piped natural gas, will not operate during the period, it said.
"Cracker burning is completely banned for the entire winter period. We note that there are festivals coming and given the experience of Diwali, when in spite of all efforts, cracker burning was extremely high and led to accumulation of toxins in the air, this measure is needed," Bhure Lal said.
He also said that it is imperative that implementing agencies take urgent steps to stop local sources of pollution, as this will only add to the already polluted air.
"This requires stringent vigilance and punitive action against all cases of local pollution, from plastic and garbage burning to dust pollution. I am also constrained to say that in spite of all our efforts, there are still many instances of local pollution and therefore, enforcement needs to be stepped up further," he said.