Restrictions on vehicles to stay until November 13 in Delhi

Govt also decides to reopen primary classes from Nov 9 & revoke order asking 50% of its staff to work from home in view of better AQI

The air quality in the national capital was recorded in the ‘very poor’ category on Monday | Parveen Negi

NEW DELHI: The ban on the movement of BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel four-wheelers in the city will remain in force until November 13, the transport department said on Monday. The restrictions were imposed last week. The transport department said that vehicles found plying in violation of the rule will be prosecuted under the Motor Vehicles Act, which could invite a fine of Rs 20,000.

Vehicles deployed for emergency services, and government and election-related work do not come under the ban’s purview. However, vehicles deployed for emergency services, and government and election-related work have been kept out of the ambit of the ban.

The move is in accordance with stage III of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) invoked in Delhi-NCR.
The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by Environment Minister Gopal Rai held earlier in the day with the officials from transport and environment departments and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC).

The meeting took place a day after the GRAP sub-committee of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) decided to revoke Stage IV (Severe+) category measures in the entire NCR as air pollution in the region improved over the last two days. It includes entry of trucks from neighbouring states to Delhi, enabling ‘work from home’ to half of government employees and closure of schools for primary classes, among others.

However, the department said in another order that there will be no ban on the entry of trucks into the national capital and Delhi-registered diesel-operated medium goods and heavy goods vehicles. Besides, the Delhi government on Monday also decided to reopen primary classes from November 9 and revoke the order asking 50 per cent of its staff to work from home in view of improvement in the city’s air quality.

The 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) of Delhi improved from 447 on Friday to 381 on Saturday and further to 339 on Sunday, primarily due to favourable wind speed and a drop in the contribution of stubble burning.

However, a marginal deterioration was noted on Monday with an AQI reading of 357. The commission had on Sunday said that there is a likelihood of sustained improvement in air quality and that the forecast by the India Meteorological Department and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology also does not indicate any further steep degradation.