For the past few winters, a sense of despair and powerlessness has been enveloping Delhias news about the shockingly dismal quality of the city's air dominates the headlines again.

This year too, the air quality level in the city has oscillated between the 'poor', 'very poor' and 'severe' categories in October and November—and even reached the 'severe plus emergency' category after Diwali.

For the second year in a row, the Graded Action Response Plan (GRAP), which has a set of measures to deal with different levels of pollution, has been put into place in the city.

In accordance with the plan, the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA)—the body responsible for tackling pollution in Delhi—announced measures such as banning entry of trucks in the city, shutting down brick kilns, permanently closing the Badarpur thermal power plant and banning the use of diesel generator sets.

Activists, however, say that solely depending on policies like GRAP to solve the pollution problem is like using band-aids to heal a fracture.

Credit by - HUFFPOST

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