Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai calls meeting of stakeholders

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai will on Monday chair a meeting with departments concerned on the implementation of mitigating measures under the central governmentrsquos pollution control plan officials saidDelhirsquos air quality dipped to ldquovery poorrdquo levels on Sunday the first time this season due to unfavourable meteorological conditionsThe capitalrsquos 24hour average air quality index AQI dropped to 313 very poor on Sunday from 248 on SaturdayThe Commission for Air Quality Management CAQM a statutory body responsible for proactively implementing the pollution control plan known as the Graded Response Action Plan GRAP had on Saturday directed authorities in the NCR to increase parking fees to discourage private transport and enhance the services of CNG or electric buses and metro trains amid a likely increase in pollution levelsGRAP categorises actions into four stages Stage I lsquoPoorrsquo AQI 201300 Stage II lsquoVery Poorrsquo AQI 301400 Stage III lsquoSeverersquo AQI 401450 and Stage IV lsquoSevere Plusrsquo AQI gt450Also read Delhi govt identifies 8 more pollution hotspots next 2 weeks crucial Gopal RaiFour stages to tackle pollution Stage I mandates the suspension of work at private construction and demolition projects with a plot size equal to or exceeding 500 square metres that are not registered on the state governmentrsquos portal for remote monitoring of dust mitigation measuresAuthorities are also tasked with enforcing a complete ban on the use of coal and firewood in lsquotandoorsrsquo at hotels restaurants and open eateries along with taking punitive action against polluting industrial units and thermal power plants within 300 km of DelhiStage II measures involve increasing parking fees to discourage private transport and enhancing CNG or electric bus and metro servicesUnder Stage III BSIII petrol and BSIV diesel fourwheelers are prohibited from operating in Delhi Gurugram Faridabad Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh NagarStage III involves a complete halt on construction and demolition work except for essential government projectsStage IV includes banning all types of construction and demolition work State governments are authorised to decide on online classes for school students and workfromhome arrangements for government and private offices during such situationsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever