Winter Action Plan For Delhi Air Pollution | PWOnlyIAS 2023

GS Paper III Environment and Ecology

Context:

Recently, the Delhi Government announced a 15-point action plan to address Delhi air pollution during the winter season.

Burning of crop stubble: Burning of crop stubble in surrounding Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan is the main reason for Delhi air pollution especially in the winter season.
Stagnant Wind: As the winter season sets in, dust particles and pollutants in the air become unable to move.
- Due to stagnant winds, these pollutants get locked in the air and affect weather conditions, resulting in smog.
Overpopulation: Another reason for Delhi air pollution is overpopulation in the capital. Over-population only adds up to the various types of pollution, whether it is air pollution or noise pollution.
Poor Public Infrastructure: Investing less on public infrastructure is another reason for air pollution.
- In India, investment in public transport —and infrastructure is low which leads to congested roads, and hence air pollution.
Industrial pollution and garbage dumps are also increasing air pollution and building-up smog in the air.
Fire-Crackers: Despite the ban on cracker sales, firecrackers were a common sight this Diwali.

Also read: POLLUTION AND ITS EFFECTS ON HEALTH

Here are the salient features of the 15-Point Winter Action Plan designed to tackle Delhi air pollution;

Monitoring of Construction sites: The government has formed 591 teams to monitor construction sites, a big source of dust.
Comprehensive Plan Involving Departments: The plan, which involves 28 departments including environment, transport, traffic police, municipal bodies, and other agencies to check pollution, has been prepared based on reports and suggestions from these departments.
Controlling Stubble Burning: The plan announced includes several focus areas, including controlling stubble burning, vehicular pollution, open burning, and dust pollution.
- Bio-decomposer will be utilized in the five thousand acres to curb the practice of stubble burning.
Checking open garbage burning: It also calls for the formation of special teams to enforce some of the existing bans, such as the one on open garbage burning.
Identification of Pollution Hotspots: The government has identified 13 high pollution level hot-spots and made special action plans for each hotspot.
Dust- Free Roads: In order to maintain dust-free roads, a total of 82 mechanical road sweeping machines and 530 water sprinkling machines will be deployed.
- During the winter season, 298 smog guns will be in operation on Delhi’s roads.
Graded Response Action (GRAP): Strict implementation of Graded Response Action (GRAP) in Delhi, utilizing advance forecasts from the Central Government and Commission for Air Quality Management to control pollution.

Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) for Delhi Air Pollution:

It is a set of emergency measures implemented in the Delhi-NCR region to prevent further deterioration of air quality once it reaches specific threshold levels.
It was approved by the Supreme Court in 2016 and officially notified in 2017.

Revised GRAP for Delhi air pollution, which come into force from 1st October 2023, it includes:

‘Poor’ Air Quality: Enforcement of the National Green Tribunal or Supreme Court’s order on overaged diesel and petrol vehicles as per existing statutes.
‘Very Poor’ Air Quality: Intensification of remedial measures for the predominant sectors contributing to adverse air quality in each of the hotspots.
‘Severe’ Air Quality: Strict restrictions on plying of BS III petrol and BS IV diesel Light Motor Vehicles (LMVs) in Delhi and in the districts of Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, and Gautam Buddh Nagar will be imposed by the NCR State governments.
Severe +’ Air Quality: The NCR State governments might decide to discontinue physical classes for classes sixth to ninth and class 11th, and conduct lessons in an online mode.

Green War Room: A Green War Room for round-the-clock monitoring, analyzing the daily actions of all agencies, and formulating plans for the next day has been established
Eco-e-waste park: An eco-e-waste park is being built, with a consultant appointed to expedite its construction.
Public Awareness Campaign: A plan to launch public awareness campaigns, including ‘Run Against Pollution,’ ‘Red Light On, Gaadi Off,’ to combat Delhi air pollution.
Establishing a super site: A real-time source apportionment study in collaboration with IIT Delhi and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, establishing a super site at Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya for targeted action.
Cooperation with Neighboring states: Neighboring states to reduce Delhi air pollution by allowing CNG-based vehicles, transitioning industries to PNG, transforming brick kilns, and banning firecrackers.
Enhancing Green Cover: Plans to plant 1 crore new saplings to increase green cover in the city.
Industries will use non-polluting fuel.