Delhi bans entry of non-essential trucks via Noida. Details here

The Delhi Traffic police issued as advisory on Saturday, after the Air Quality Index(AQI) in the national capital remained in their ‘severe’ category for the third straight day. The advisory stated that entry of non-essential trucks, movement of non-BS VI diesel-run light vehicles to Delhi via Noida has been banned until further notice. 

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Saturday appealed to the chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to take measures to divert trucks carrying non-essential goods on peripheral expressways to avoid traffic jams at the capital's borders.

With pollution levels in the national capital worsening, the Centre's air quality panel had on Thursday banned the entry of trucks other than electric and CNG ones into Delhi. Those carrying essential commodities are exempted.

"Stage IV of GRAP has already been invoked with immediate effect from November 3... mandating the NCR and Delhi authorities to ensure that trucks carrying non-essential items should not be allowed to enter Delhi till further date as deemed necessary," Rai said in a letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

The air pollution in Delhi ameliorated from severe to very poor on Saturday due to favourable wind speed and a dip in the contribution of stubble burning.

 The 24-hour average air quality index stood at 381, a considerable improvement over the AQI of 447 a day ago, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.

The air quality is likely to slip back into the severe category on Sunday morning due to shallow fog and improve thereafter, said Mahesh Palawat, vice president of meteorology and climate change at Skymet Weather. "The wind d

According to Safar, a forecasting agency under the Ministry of Earth and Sciences, the share of stubble burning in Delhi's PM2.5 pollution dropped to 21 per cent on Saturday from 30 per cent on Friday due to unfavourable transport-level winds.