4 days ahead of GRAP, first hint of ‘poor’ air

GURGAON: With just four days left before the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) is implemented in the region, the city’s air quality index (AQI) deteriorated to ‘poor’ at 221 on Tuesday, from 184 (moderate) the day before.
Officials attributed the rise to low wind speed on Tuesday (4kmph) — it was 16kmph the day before. The wind speed is likely to remain in the range of 6kmph to 12 kmph for the next three days, due to which the city’s AQI is expected to remain ‘poor’.
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Before Tuesday, the last time the city had ‘poor’ AQI was August 27 at 214.The AQI was ‘moderate’ at Vikas Sadan (148) on Tuesday and ‘poor’ at Teri Gram (241) and at Sector 51 (274), while data wasn’t available at the Gwalpahari station.
PM2.5 levels witnessed an increase at two of the city’s four air quality monitoring stations in the past 24 hours, according to the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB).

While the permissible PM2.5 limit is 60ug/m3, it was several times beyond that in three stations. At Teri Gram, it was 123ug/m3 on Monday, which rose to 308ug/m3 on Tuesday. At Sector 51, the PM2.5 level was 264ug/m3 the previous day and 321ug/m3 on Tuesday, while it was 148ug/m3 on Monday and 220ug/m3 on Tuesday at Vikas Sadan. Data wasn’t available for the Gwalpahari station.
PM2.5 is one of the six routinely measured air pollutants and is commonly accepted as the most harmful. It has been found to be a major contributing factor for conditions such as asthma, stroke and heart and lung diseases.
Meanwhile, HSPCB officials said localised factors are responsible for turning the AQI ‘poor’. “Dust and vehicular emission are the primary cause of air pollution in our city. Traffic congestion due to unpaved roads and dust from unregulated construction activities are the major contributors to the city’s air pollution. We will be taking measures to mitigate air pollution,” said Kuldeep Singh, the HSPCB regional officer.
Air pollution has become a year-round problem for Delhi-NCR and neighbouring areas. Weather conditions and high doses of pollutants envelop urban areas in a toxic haze every winter — an annual feature over the past few years.
The GRAP for NCR has been classified under four different stages of adverse air quality in Delhi, reflected through the (AQI) — stage 1 is when it is ‘poor’ (AQI 201-300), stage 2 when it is ‘very poor’ (AQI 301-400), stage 3 when it is ‘severe’ (AQI 401-450) and stage 4 when it is ‘severe+’ (AQI >450).
Actions under stages 2, 3 and 4 shall be invoked at least three days in advance of the AQI reaching projected levels of that stage, based on the dynamic model and meteorological forecast on a daily basis. Restrictive actions underprevious stage shall be continued, in addition to the air pollution stage under which restrictive actions are envisaged to be taken.