TUESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2024 www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 Pages 16 |` 5.00|LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR KAILASH GAHLOT JOINS BJP ‘ENHANCE STATES’ SHARE TO 50 PC’ P6 SENSEX 77,339.01 GRAP- IV in force across the city to curb pollution, while 12 areas record an AQI of 500 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. PM attends G-20 Summit of top world leaders in Brazil STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 18 NOVEMBER Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday attended the G20 Summit of top global leaders at Rio de Janeiro to explain to the international community India's position on various global developments and pressing issues. The summit began this morning with Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva welcoming the participating leaders at the Museum of Modern Art. He received PM Modi with a warm hug and the two leaders chatted for a few minutes before the Indian leader entered the main hall. ''Looking forward to the proceedings at the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Thankful to President Lula for the warm welcome," Mr Modi wrote on 'X'. Apart from the heads of member states, representatives of international organ- P5 NIFTY 23,453.80 Delhi gasps for air isations are participating in various sessions of the summit and deliberate on the priority areas of this year’s declaration. The theme of the summit is “Building a just and sustainable world” and the sessions to be held over the new two days are a reflection of that. On day 1, the inaugural session will have the global leaders discussing the “Global Alliance on Hunger and Poverty”, the initiative taken under the Brazilian Presidency. The second session of the day will be on one of the most critical issues of “Reforms of Global Governance Institutions”. Earlier, the PM arrived in Brazil to a rousing welcome on the second leg of his three-nation visit to attend the G20 Summit. The PM reached Rio de Janeiro after concluding a successful visit to Nigeria. The celebrations outside the hotel, where he will stay, included a traditional dandiya ceremony with dancers dressed in vibrant Gujarati attire, as well as chants of Vedic mantras performed by Brazilian scholars. Members of the diaspora waved the Indian tricolour and chanted ''Modi, Modi'' as soon as he arrived at the hotel. BIDEN AUTHORIZES UKRAINE TO STRIKE RUSSIA WITH US MISSILES ` vs $ 84.42 P10 GOLD 77,020.00 SILVER 89,500 ROHIT, SHUBMAN SET TO MISS FIRST TEST P16 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.