Delhi Government directed to implement GRAP 2

New Delhi: Delhi faces significant air pollution issues, particularly during the winter, which increases even more in the winter season, and people have to face problems like difficulty breathing, burning sensations in the eyes, and sore throats. The main cause of these issues is air pollution. In order to cope with this, the Delhi government on Tuesday has issued directives to strictly implement GRAP 2. The Delhi government intends to boost public transportation in order to minimize air pollution. DMRC and DTC have been given directives to improve the frequency of metros and buses.

The frequency of metro trains on all lines of the Delhi Metro has been reduced. The metro stations where the metro train frequency interval is 7 to 8 minutes will have their interval decreased to 5 to 6 minutes, whereas the metro stations where the metro arrives and departs every 5–6 minutes will have their interval reduced to 2-3 minutes.

Furthermore, the Delhi government has asked the Delhi Transport Corporation to boost the number of buses on the road. Private buses have also been hired for this purpose, allowing more people to use public transit while reducing the number of private cars on the roads.

In order to properly execute pollution-reduction measures in Delhi, Environment Minister Gopal Rai met with officials from 28 departments yesterday, on Monday. He stated that the government has identified eight additional such sites, in addition to the existing 13 most polluted areas in the national capital, where special teams would be assigned to reduce pollution sources.

Gopal Rai stated that from October 25, the MCD's DC would investigate hotspots and strengthen the efforts being made on the ground to combat pollution. Apart from the 13 hotspots, there are 8 locations where the AQI has exceeded 300 owing to local factors.

The Delhi Government is implementing measures to combat pollution under the GRAP 2 phase, including the DMRC running 40 additional weekday train trips on its network from Wednesday, October 25, 2023. This aims to increase public transport usage among commuters in Delhi-NCR, with over 4300 daily trips made by the Delhi Metro train.