NGT seeks action from Delhi Police on air pollution

New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has asked Delhi’s Police Chief and the Special Commissioner of Traffic Management to take action and provide updates on vehicles that emit smoke. NGT took this action to reduce vehicle pollution and resolve parking issues. The NGT stressed the need to follow the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) strictly, a multi-stage system to mitigate air pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Delhiites have been experiencing very poor air quality for the last month. Despite some improvement, once again the situation becomes worse. Diwali is about to follow, so the Delhi government wants to take all necessary steps to control pollution in the national capital. Several people are facing pollution-related diseases.

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During a recent hearing, NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava noted that the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi reached 364 on October 23, placing it in the “very poor” category. This has raised concerns about the effectiveness of measures in place to curb air pollution, especially as winter begins.

The NGT bench, including Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi and expert A. Senthil Vel, reviewed a report from the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM). The report mentioned that GRAP Stage I was activated when AQI remained above 200 for an extended period. However, the tribunal expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of clarity on how long AQI needs to stay high before stricter actions are taken.