ENVIRONMENT Pollution Prevention and Control Authority (EPCA) said Graded Response Action Plan to control air pollution in Delhi-NCR in ‘Very poor’ and ‘Severe’ categories comes into effect from October 17, 2017.
The authority, in a release made available to ReportersAtLarge listed key areas of concern, which according to it, require short term and long term action to combat deadly air pollution in NCR
In November 2016, the Supreme Court of India directed the government to frame and implement a Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to control air pollution.
The Union environment ministry notified the Plan on January 17, 2017The Plan is designed like a disaster alert system, which directs governments to take tougher and tougher actions based on the level of air pollution.
The key measures, which are listed under the Moderate and Poor categories, have been in force through the year, with state governments monitoring progressFrom October 17, 2017 to March 15, 2018 the Very Poor and Severe categories will come into force.
As a part of this, the Badarpur thermal power plant will be closed. In addition, brick kilns, which have not converted to a cleaner zig zag technology, will be shut downAll other measures will be strictly enforced. The objective is to ensure that pollution levels do not spike and that emergency measures are not required.
New Delhi, October 17, 2017: As the festival of Diwali and winter season draw near, Delhi-NCR is gearing up to meet the severe air quality challenge that it faces every year around this time. A Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) has been notified and is already in place – and today is the day from when Very Poor and Severe categories of GRAP will be imposed till March 15, 2018. This was announced in a press conference here today by the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA), the committee constituted by the Central government following orders passed by the Supreme Court of India in 1998.
“Difficult situations demand tough responses and solutions and the Delhi-NCR region is faced with a really difficult situation each winter when air pollution levels spiral out of control. The EPCA and all other agencies of the government are prepared to take those tough decisions which we believe will help clear the air,” said EPCA chairperson Bhure Lal.
