NEW DELHI: With Delhi’s air quality slipping into the ‘very poor’ category and Stage 2 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) coming into force across the NCR, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will operate 20 additional train trips on weekdays from Tuesday to encourage commuters to use public transport and reduce vehicular pollution.The additional services will take the total number of extra trips being operated by the Delhi Metro to 40, the DMRC said on Monday.“In the wake of the implementation of GRAP-II in the capital, Delhi Metro will be running 20 more trips from tomorrow on weekdays, thereby increasing the total number of additional trips on its network by 40. This is to encourage more and more people to use public transport instead of their private vehicles and help mitigate pollution,” the corporation said.The move comes after the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) invoked Stage 2 of GRAP across Delhi-NCR as pollution levels worsened.Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 324 at 4pm on Monday, marking the first ‘very poor’ air quality reading of the season and the highest level recorded in nine months.The city’s AQI had climbed from 117 in the ‘moderate’ category on October 31 to 261 in the ‘poor’ category on November 1 before entering the ‘very poor’ category on Monday.Three monitoring stations also recorded ‘severe’ air quality, while 37 of the city’s 58 stations reported ‘very poor’ readings.
Transport sector contributes 19.2% to pollution
According to the Decision Support System for Delhi, the transport sector accounted for 19.2% of the city’s pollution on Monday.Stubble burning contributed 8.4%, while industries in Delhi and peripheral areas accounted for 4.2% and residential activities for 4.9%.The CAQM attributed the deterioration in air quality to unfavourable meteorological conditions and said pollution levels were likely to remain in the ‘very poor’ category over the coming days.The Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi forecast that the AQI could remain in the ‘very poor’ category from November 3 to 5 before improving marginally to the ‘poor’ category over the following six days.(With agency inputs)
