TUESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2024 www.thestatesman.com Pages 12 |` 5.00 |LC X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR KAILASH GAHLOT JOINS BJP ‘ENHANCE STATES’ SHARE TO 50 PC’ P8 SENSEX 77,339.01 GRAP- IV in force across the city to curb pollution, while 12 areas record an AQI of 500 PHOTO BY~ SUBRATA DUTTA AGRAJ PRATAP SINGH NEW DELHI, 18 NOVEMBER R esidents of Delhi gasped for breath, as the national capital on Monday recorded air quality reeling under 'severe plus' category with average Air Quality Index pegging at 494. Amid the hazardous air situation, the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and adjoining areas has invoked anti- pollution Graded Response Action Plan's stageIV restrictions across the city to curb the pollution spike. GRAP's stage- IV measures are the final level in the antipollution plan put together by the sub- committee that incorporate a host of restrictions for pollution control. There were twelve places in the city where AQI was recorded at 500, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Ashok Vihar, Bawana, Dwarka Sector- 8, Mundka, Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, Najafgarh, North campus, Punjabi Bagh, Sirifort, Wazirpur, Rohini and Nehru Nagar were amongst those with air quality index of 500 at 4 pm on Monday. The commission has advised children, elderly and those with respiratory, cardiovascular, cerebrovascular or other chronic diseases to avoid outdoor activities and stay indoors, as much as possible amid the present air situation. A thick layer of smog engulfed the city during the morning hours, while the heavy air with pollutants made it difficult for people to breathe properly. Many people were seen using masks, while those who stepped out of their homes without one, could be seen outside stalls and shops looking for masks. Talking to the newspaper, an employee with a private company in the New Delhi area who was on his way to office expressed that the situation is dangerous as it was so difficult to breathe, and he felt a lot of discomfort while breathing. Similarly, one more person expressed that until the situation improves, the option of work from home could be given to people as per their roles and work. Enforcement agencies like Delhi Traffic Police and Transport Department teams were also on their toes to keep a check on the violations with regard to the anti pollution plan in force. Talking of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology's daily weather and air quality bulletin for Delhi, it suggests that presently," Meteorological conditions are likely to remain extremely unfavourable for effective dispersion of pollutants." GRAP III restricts plying of BS- IV Diesel four wheelers and BS- III petrol four wheelers on the roads, while there are several other restrictions in place to prevent the rise in pollution. Despite mechanized sweeping of roads and water sprinkling through machines, it seems that it is not helping much in curbing the pollutants, as the AQI has been witnessing spikes since several days, and has plunged into unprecedented levels. Global South adversely impacted by food, fuel crisis due to conflicts: PM Modi STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 18 NOVEMBER Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday explained to top world leaders how the countries of the Global South have been most adversely impacted by the food, fuel and fertilizer crisis due to ongoing conflicts. Speaking at the G20 Summit in Brazil on "Social Inclusion and the Fight Against Hunger and Poverty”, he said the gathering of the top leaders can only be successful if the challenges and priorities of the Global South are kept in mind. ''And just as we amplified the voice of the Global south by granting permanent membership of G20 to the African Union during the New Delhi Summit, we will reform institutions of global governance,'' the PM said. Sharing with the G20 leaders P2 NIFTY 23,453.80 Suffocating! India’s experiences, Mr Modi said the country has lifted 250 million people out of poverty over the last ten years. ''Over 800 million people are being given food grains free of cost. 550 million people are benefiting from the world’s biggest health insurance scheme. Now, 60 million senior citizens, over the age of 70, will also be able to benefit from free health insurance,'' he added. The PM said that over 300 million women micro entrepreneurs have been linked to banks and given access to credit. Under the world’s largest crop insurance scheme, over 40 million farmers have received benefits worth $20 billion, he added. Under the farmers scheme, assistance worth over 40 billion dollars has been given to 110 million farmers, he said, adding institutional credit worth 300 billion US dollars is being given to farmers. ''India is not only ensuring food security but also focusing on Nutrition. The Saksham Anganwadi and Nutrition 2.0 campaign which is an Integrated Nutrition Support Programme, focuses in particular on nutrition for pregnant women, newborn babies, children under the age of 6, and adolescent girls,'' he added. BIDEN AUTHORIZES UKRAINE TO STRIKE RUSSIA WITH US MISSILES ` vs $ 84.42 P9 GOLD 77,020.00 SILVER 89,500 ROHIT, SHUBMAN SET TO MISS FIRST TEST P12 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 71.55 Supreme Court directs Delhi-NCR states to strictly implement GRAP-IV PARMOD KUMAR NEW DELHI, 18 NOVEMBER The Supreme Court on Monday directed Delhi and all the states governments in the National Capital Region (NCR) to strictly implement Graded Response Action Plan IV (GRAP IV) - anti-pollution measures - as air quality index (AQI) remains in the "severe" category and ordered stopping of the physical classes in the schools including 10th and 12th standards in the national capital and the adjoining states in the NCR till the situation improves. The court ordered “All States (in Delhi NCR) should take an immediate call to stop physical classes of all standards upto class 12,” as senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan told the bench that in Delhi students of classes 10th and 12th were being made to attend classes physically. A bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih also directed Delhi-NCR states to immediately constitute teams for monitoring steps/actions which are required under GRAP-IV. Asking all the NCR states and the central government to file compliance affidavit on strict implementation of the Graded Response Action Plan IV, the bench said that till its further orders, the implementation of GRAP stage IV shall continue even if air quality index falls below 450. “We make it clear that till further orders are passed by this court implementation of stage IV will continue even if AQI level drops below 450,” the top court ordered. Expressing its dissatisfaction with the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) for waiting for the AQI to breach the threshold to enforce the GRAP-III and GRAP-IV protocols, the court said asked CAQM to consider stringent action under GRAP stage III and IV and that nothing is left to the discretion of the state government or the authori- ties. “The approach adopted by the commission (CAQM) seems to be that they have decided to wait for improvement of AQI and therefore implementation of GRAP stage III and stage IV was delayed. This is completely the wrong approach. Even in anticipation of AQI decreasing the threshold limit it is the duty of the commission to start implementation of GRAP III or GRAP IV as the case may be. The commission cannot wait for improvement of AQI,” said the bench displeased with the CAQM approach. The top court further directed all the NCR state governments and Centre to immediately take a call to formulate a plan on the measures to control and curb air pollution and present them to the court before the next date of hearing. The court also directed the Delhi and NCR governments to set up grievance redressal mechanisms to report violations of the step.