Odd-even program postponed; to combat pollution, Delhi wants to use cloud seeding and outlaw app-based taxis from neighboring states

 Odd-even program postponed; to combat pollution, Delhi wants to use cloud seeding and outlaw app-based taxis from neighboring states

The Delhi government declared that all schools would have their December winter vacation from November 9 to November 18, due to the deteriorating quality of the air.

In addition, an effort will be made around November 20 to create artificial rain using cloud seeding in order to address air pollution, which again broke the severe category on Wednesday. The odd-even automobile restriction plan will be implemented in Delhi after the Supreme Court's examination of its efficacy and issuance of an order.

The Delhi government declared that all schools would have their December winter vacation from November 9 to November 18, due to the deteriorating quality of the air.

Additionally, according to Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai, the department of transport has been given instructions to prohibit app-based taxis "following the Supreme Court's orders".

Senior authorities said that a comprehensive directive would clarify whether the restriction will take effect this week or wait after the odd-even automobile rationing program is in place.

The Delhi administration was tasked by the Supreme Court on Tuesday with ensuring that only taxis registered in the city operate on certain highways. The court noted that several cabs registered in other states were seen traveling on these roads with only one passenger.

Rai said that in an effort to reduce air pollution in the city, the Delhi government would try to create fake rain by cloud seeding between November 20 and 21.

According to what he stated, he met with experts from IIT-Kanpur who informed him that cloud seeding could only be tried in the presence of clouds or atmospheric moisture.

According to experts, these kinds of situations can arise between November 20 and November 21. In this context, we have requested that the scientists draft a proposal that will be brought before the Supreme Court," he said.

Authorities in Delhi were instructed by the government to promptly resume the Connaught Place smog tower and a research aimed at determining the city's pollution sources. Rai had alleged that Ashwani Kumar, the chairman of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, had unilaterally stopped the two projects without telling the government.

The Delhi government intends to implement an odd-even car rationing scheme from November 13 to November 20. A day earlier, the Supreme Court questioned the scheme's performance and called it "all optics." Rai stated that a decision to implement the scheme won't be made until the apex court reviews it and issues an order.

The court will hear the case on Friday. Rai said that the government will provide the findings of two significant studies, carried out by the Delhi Technical University and the Energy Policy Institute of the University of Chicago, before the supreme court for consideration in evaluating the scheme's efficacy.

According to an analysis conducted in 2016 by the Evidence for Policy Design and the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, Delhi's PM2.5 levels decreased by 14–16% during the odd-even system's implementation in January.

With the 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) measuring 426 on Wednesday, Delhi's air quality fell into the "severe" category once more. Open burning of trash, dumping of construction waste, and the use of tandoors in restaurants are among the main causes of the city's rising air pollution, according to Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi.

She further said that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) had amassed approximately Rs 1.51 crore in penalties in only seven days from those who disobeyed the prohibition on these activities. The Indo-Gangetic plains had poor air quality in a number of cities, including nearby Ghaziabad (384), Gurugram (385), Noida (405), Greater Noida (478), and Faridabad (425).

Data from the Decision Support Systems System, a numerical model-based system that can identify sources of particulate matter pollution in Delhi, show that 38% of the air pollution in Delhi on Wednesday came from stubble burning in neighboring states, particularly Punjab and Haryana. It's probably going to be 27% on Thursday.

With the poisonous haze continuing unabated, the Aam Aadmi Party accused the BJP government in Haryana of functioning as the "biggest culprit" behind Delhi's pollution, as the political blame game intensified. The Supreme Court said yesterday that there cannot always be a "political battle" over the problem of pollution.

Regarding the AAP's accusations, neither the BJP nor the Haryana government responded right away. On Tuesday, however, Manohar Lal Khattar, the chief minister of Haryana, said that boundaries did not control air pollution.

He said that the people of Delhi and his state were suffering, with Punjab citing many instances of agricultural residue burning.

The Delhi-NCR Air Quality Early Warning System of the Ministry of Earth Sciences indicates that'severe' air quality is expected to persist for an additional five to six days in the area. According to doctors, inhaling Delhi's contaminated air has the same negative consequences as smoking around ten cigarettes a day.

According to Rajesh Chawla, senior consultant in pulmonology along with critical care at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, prolonged exposure to high concentrations of pollution can cause or exacerbate respiratory conditions like asthma, bronchitis, as well as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), as well as significantly increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

In the nation's capital, tough regulations stipulated under the Graded Response Action strategy (GRAP), the last phase of the Central government's air pollution management strategy for Delhi-NCR, have also been put into effect.

The limitations outlined in Stage IV of GRAP, which prohibit all forms of building and the entrance of vehicles that emit pollutants into Delhi, came into force on Sunday after a decline in the city's air quality to'severe plus' (AQI values above 450).

Stage I is Poor (AQI 201-300), Stage II is Very Poor (AQI 301-400), Stage III is Extremely (AQI 401-450), and Stage IV is Severe Plus (AQI over 450) are the four phases into which GRAP divides acts.

Unfavorable weather patterns, car emissions, burning paddy straw, firecrackers, and other regional sources of pollution all play a part in the dangerously high levels of air pollution that Delhi-NCR experiences every winter.

A DPCC investigation shows that every year, between November 1 and November 15, Delhi has its highest pollution levels due to an increase in the number of stubble burning incidences in Punjab and Haryana.