Hot mix plants, stone-crushers and construction activities that generate dust are prohibited from October 26 to 30 in Delhi and its satellite towns, a committee overseeing the implementation of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) said on Thursday.
Coal-based industries, except power plants, will also have to cease operations during those five days in the city as well as the satellite towns of Faridabad, Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida, Sonipat and Bahadurgarh, the task force on GRAP decided in its meeting.
The committee, which now meets almost weekly since the beginning of October, didn’t suggest any specific caution on crackers.
Green crackers
This year, less polluting ‘green crackers’ are available in city stores unlike last year, when there was a complete ban on all kinds of fireworks. “Supreme Court directions regarding firecrackers to be strictly enforced by concerned agencies,” was the only reference made by the committee on crackers.
The SC, in its October 2018 judgment, had allowed only green crackers on Diwali and that too between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Forecasts by agencies such as SAFAR say that no dramatic dip in the city’s air quality is expected until November 1. However, the city’s air quality on Thursday was in the ‘very poor’ category with PM 2.5 being the dominant pollutant.
Prashant Gargava, member secretary of the Task Force, said the Central Pollution Control Board was conducting checks throughout the NCR and investigating instances of burning of waste and violations of dust management practices.
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