Badarpur power plant closed down, diesel gensets banned as Delhi’s air quality worsens

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, October 18, 2017 : In the wake of the deteriorating air quality in Delhi before Diwali, the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Prevention and Control Authority (EPCA) closed down the Badarpur power plant and banned diesel generators.

 

The EPCA, a body empowered to enforce the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), also ordered that production at several brick kilns be stopped. If the air quality gets worse, Delhiites may even have to pay parking fee four times the present amount.

The pollution watchdog also made it evident that it would not think twice in bringing back the ’odd-even’ plan, order cars off roads and even shut schools.

These steps, taken under the GRAP’s ’very poor’ and ’severe’ categories came into effect on Tuesday, and they would remain in force till March 15, the EPCA announced following a review meeting chaired by its chief Bhure Lal, a former IAS officer.

EPCA member Sunita Narain said that while the GRAP proposes a hike in parking fee under its ’very poor’ segment, it cannot be immediately implemented as the Delhi government’s parking policy has not yet been finalised.

But she indicated that the EPCA would enforce the measure if pollution levels showed any rapid spike, even if a formal policy is not in place.

 

WHAT WILL BE EXEMPTED

Only those brick kilns, which have implemented the zigzag technology that helps reduce black carbon emission, have been allowed to function, Bhure Lal said.

Essential services such as the Delhi Metro and hospitals in the city, which depend on diesel-generator sets, will also be exempted.

Narain said measures such as the ’odd-even’ car rationing policy - under which private vehicles are allowed on roads based on the last digits of license plates - or closure of schools will be taken only as a last resort under the emergency segment of the action plan.

"However, we are trying to ensure that we do not reach a health emergency situation like last year, which may force us to shut the city", she said.

Power officials said the closure of the Badarpur plant, which used to supply around 400-megawatt electricity to discoms, will not have any impact on Delhi as the city has surplus power.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) wanted it to be closed by September, but it could not be done as the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, which hosted matches of the U-17 FIFA World Cup, drew electricity from the plant.

THERMAL POWER PLANTS AT DADRI, JHAJJAR MAY ALSO BE CLOSED DOWN

The EPCA said the two other thermal power plants in the region, at Dadri and Jhajjar, will also have to be shut if pollution reaches emergency levels and also directed that Bawana gas-based plant be run at full capacity.

The set of actions, which will kick in if the air quality worsens, include closure of hot mix plants functioning in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, stone crushers in Haryana and Rajasthan, and industries using Furnace Oil and Pet Coke, which are rich in Sulphur, across the region.

Under the GRAP, measures under ’very poor’ and ’severe’ categories are rolled out when levels of PM2.5 are between 121-250 micrograms per cubic metre ( g/m3) and above 250 g/m3 respectively. PM10 levels have to be between 351-430 g/m3 PM10 levels add above 430 g/m3 respectively.

The average-24-hour safe standards of PM2.5 and PM10 are 60 and 100 respectively and anything beyond that can harm living beings as these pollutants measure up to 30 times tinier than the width of a human hair.

The severe plus or the emergency action plan under GRAP, which proposes a ban on construction activities, odd-even scheme, ban on entry of trucks and closure of schools, shall come into force when PM2.5 levels cross 300 g/m3 or PM10 levels cross 500 g/m3 (five times above the standard level) and persist for 48 hours or more.


courtesy:Indian express