Ban on entry of trucks lifted as city’s air quality improves

A marginal improvement in Delhi’s air quality on Wednesday prompted the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) to revoke the ban on the entry of trucks into the Capital and ease other stricter pollution curbs.

The withdrawn curbs were part of Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), a set of short-term measures to control air pollution. However, all actions under Stages I, II, and III of GRAP will continue. These include a ban on construction and demolition activities  and restrictions on the plying of BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel light motor vehicles (four-wheelers) in Delhi and the districts of Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddha Nagar.

Classes for students up to Grade 5 will also continue in hybrid mode, according to an official order. The restrictions were “disruptive for a large number of stakeholders,” the CAQM said. “The sub-committee on GRAP unanimously decided to revoke all Stage IV actions across the NCR with immediate effect,” it said.

Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said  over the past 24 hours, teams checked 4,803 trucks at Delhi’s borders and issued challans to 430 light motor vehicles found plying within city limits. “Authorities also inspected 449 illegal dumping sites, taking action at 124 locations, and resolved more than 60 complaints received through mobile applications and social media,” Mr. Sirsa said.

 Delhi’s 24-hour average air quality stood at 271 (‘poor’) on Wednesday, down from 412 (‘severe’) recorded a day earlier, as per the Central Pollution Control Board’s bulletin.