Context-Recently, the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority- EPCA declared a public health emergency in New Delhi as pollution levels entered the 'Severe plus' category.

Causes of delhi pollution

• Growing population of the city. The pressure and haphazard growth of the population is deteriorating the environment.
• There has been highly haphazard and unplanned development of industries and factories. Studies have revealed that only about 20% of the industrial units are set up in the approved industrial areas whereas the rest of them are in residential and commercial areas.
• There has been a huge rise in the vehicular population, in spite of the metro railways, aggravating traffic congestion and increasing air and noise pollution. It has also been reported that the number of vehicles plying on the roads of Delhi is more than that of the three metropolitan cities of Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai taken together.
• There has also been an ever-increasing number of diesel vehicles plying on the roads, which are largely responsible for the air pollution.
• It has been reported by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) that everyday almost 8,000 m tonnes of solid waste is being generated in Delhi. Plus we also have the industrial hazardous and non-hazardous waste. On an average, everyday, the MCDs and the NDMC manage to clear about 5,000-5,500 m tonnes of garbage. This results in the accumulation of more and more garbage in the city.
• There has been no proper technology or methods to treat solid, liquid, waste water, industrial and hospital wastes in the city.
• There has been too much dependence on fossil fuels like coal-fired power plants, improper use of energy in buildings and the excessive use of biomass for cooking and heating, etc

Other factors

• Stubble burning in states of Punjab and Haryana: CPCB held that stubble burning contribution to pollution has gone up to 45%, resulting in the high particulate matter concentration.
• Extremely adverse weather conditions: Northwesterly winds brought high quantities of smoke from Punjab and Haryana to Delhi-NCR.

Sunday rain increases pollution ,leaves scientist stumped:

• Even early mornings showers and windy conditions have failed to bring down pollution levels in the capital. In fact, the change in weather has adversely affected air quality -- puzzling environmental experts.
• Experts are in a fix over how to explain the development. Some experts believe that the Sunday morning rain has been too little to affect pollutants in the air. Instead of bringing relief, the rain has caused pollutant particles to become more concentrated due to humidity.
• This is because of the direction of the wind which is coming from Haryana and Punjab towards Delhi and might be carrying remnants of stubble burning with it.

Declaration of emergency

What is Graded response action plan?

• Approved by the Supreme Court in 2016.It works only as an emergency measure.
• As such, the plan does not include action by various state governments to be taken throughout the year to tackle industrial, vehicular and combustion emissions.
• When the air quality shifts from poor to very poor, the measures listed have to be followed since the plan is incremental in nature.

Overview of the plan:

1. The plan requires action and coordination among 13 different agencies in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan (NCR areas).
2. At the head of the table is the EPCA, mandated by the Supreme Court.
3. Before the imposition of any measures, EPCA holds a meeting with representatives from all NCR states, and a call is taken on which actions has to be made applicable in which town.

Measures announced:

Moderate to poor- (PM2.5 61-120 µg/cu. m. or PM10 101-350 µg/cu. m.):

1. Heavy fines for garbage burning.
2. Close/enforce pollution control regulations in brick kilns and industries.
3. Mechanised sweeping on roads with heavy traffic and water sprinkling.
4. Strictly enforce ban on firecrackers.

Very Poor- (PM2.5 121-250 µg/cu. m. or PM10 351-430 µg/cu. m.):

1. Stop use of diesel generator sets.
2. Enhance parking fee by 3-4 times.
3. Increase bus and Metro services.
4. Apartment owners to discourage burning fires in winter by providing electric heaters during winter.
5. Advisories to people with respiratory and cardiac conditions to restrict outdoor movement.

Severe- (PM 2.5 over 250 µg/cu. m. or PM10 over 430 µg/cu. m.):

1. Close brick kilns, hot mix plants, stone crushers.
2. Maximise power generation from natural gas to reduce generation from coal.
3. Encourage public transport, with differential rates.
4. More frequent mechanised cleaning of road and sprinkling of water.

Severe+ or Emergency- (PM 2.5 over 300 µg/cubic metre or PM10 over 500 µg/cu. m. for 48+ hours):

1. Stop entry of trucks into Delhi (except essential commodities).
2. Stop construction work.
3. Introduce odd/even scheme for private vehicles and minimise exemptions.
4. Task Force to decide any additional steps including shutting of schools.

About Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA):

• EPCA was constituted with the objective of ‘protecting and improving’ the quality of the environment and ‘controlling environmental pollution’ in the National Capital Region. The EPCA also assists the apex court in various environment-related matters in the region.
• EPCA is Supreme Court mandated body tasked with taking various measures to tackle air pollution in the National Capital Region. It was notified in 1998 by Environment Ministry under Environment Protection Act, 1986.

Composition:

• Besides the chairman, the EPCA has 14 members, some of whom are the environment secretary of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT), chairperson of the New Delhi Municipal Council, transport commissioner of the NCT, the commissioners of various municipal corporations of Delhi and professors at IIT Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Functions:

• To protect and improve quality of environment and prevent and control environmental pollution in National Capital Region.
• To enforce Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in NCR as per the pollution levels.