Diesel generators banned from Thursday; essential services like hospitals, railways exempted

New Delhi, Oct 14: The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) on Wednesday said that the diesel generators will be banned in Delhi from Thursday till further orders. However, essential services like hospitals, railways will be exempted.

The national capital''s air quality hit an eight-month low and was recorded just a notch shy of the "very poor" category on Tuesday, largely due to calm winds and low temperature that allowed accumulation of pollutants.

It was 261 on Monday, 216 on Sunday and 221 on Saturday.

Dwarka Sector-8 (AQI 390) Wazirpur (AQI 372), and Mundka (AQI 352) recorded the highest pollution levels on Tuesday.

An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ''good'', 51 and 100 ''satisfactory'', 101 and 200 ''moderate'', 201 and 300 ''poor'', 301 and 400 ''very poor'', and 401 and 500 ''severe''.

When the situation turns "severe", GRAP recommends closure of brick kilns, stone crushers and hot mix plants, sprinkling of water, frequent mechanised cleaning of roads and maximising power generation from natural gas.

The measures to be followed in the "emergency" situation include stopping entry of trucks in Delhi, ban on construction activities and introduction of the odd-even car rationing scheme.

The EPCA had last week told the governments of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to "try and avert" the need to take emergency measures, such as a ban on construction and industries using fuels other than piped natural gas, as the economy is already under stress post-lockdown.