The national capital region is set to get a Beijing-style pollution code for graded response to health emergencies caused by noxious air that frequently engulfs the area in the winter.

This comes a month after deadly smog set off by the Diwali fireworks and burning of crop stubble in adjacent states choked the region for a week, as about a million schoolchildren were forced to stay at home, thousands of employees reported sick and long queues formed outside shops selling face masks.

The Supreme Court, which had then slammed the authorities for being caught unawares and even asked the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) if it "waited for people to die", cleared the decks on Friday for the use of a common pollution code in NCR.

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COMMON POLLUTION CODE

The plan is to sort the severity of pollutants present in the air into four categories - moderate to poor, very poor, severe and very severe or emergency while issuing appropriate advisory to the public.

The court also asked the CPCB to upgrade its infrastructure and set up additional pollution monitoring and control stations in the region within six months. At present there are only six stations.

A bench headed by chief justice T S Thakur accepted the recommendations made by the Delhi and Union governments and directed the Centre to notify the levels of four categories of pollution.

Beijing has a similar pollution notification model where regular colour-coded alerts are issued based on the levels of toxic particles in the air.

A response action plan submitted by the CPCB to SC said the information about air quality will be sent to concerned chief secretaries of NCR who are heading the state-level committees so that the graded response is implemented and enforced.

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This information about air pollution levels and the response required will also be communicated by the CPCB-headed task force directly and through the state governments to the public so that they are informed about protective steps recommended for them as well as the measures governments need to take.

During air quality emergencies, the CPCB-headed task force will suggest additional special measures that may be required to quickly bring down the air pollution levels to acceptable levels.

The suggestion of the task force will be communicated to the chief secretary concerned who will be heading the statelevel committee, to ensure implementation. This information will also be communicated to the public through public advertisements, installation of notice boards in different parts of the cities and other means by the state governments.

'CENTRE'S GRADED RESPONSE ACTION PLAN WILL BE EFFECTIVE'

The sanction came after environmentalist Sunita Narain from the Centre for Science and Environment told the bench that the "Centre's graded response action plan to tackle different levels of pollution was acceptable and can be put into operation".

"Enforcement of graded response action plan shall be under the orders of Environment Pollution (Control and Prevention) Authority (EPCA) and all other authorities should act in aid of such direction," the bench said.

Terming as "severe" levels of pollution when particulate matter (PM) 2.5 levels are above 250 to 430 micrograms per cubic metre in the ambient air, the Centre said that when air pollution reaches such alarming proportions, immediate steps are needed including ban on construction activities and implementation of road space rationing schemes.

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