With Delhi's air quality pushing deeper into the severe zone, the city's pollution crackdown reached out onto one of its food culture, the tandoor and its delicacies are apparently going to be a miss for now for the people. The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has ordered a blanket ban on coal- and firewood-based tandoors across hotels, restaurants and open eateries, tightening restrictions as pollution levels remain alarmingly high.
The directive, issued under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, and the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), on Friday, requires all eateries to switch to electric or gas-based tandoors with immediate effect.Officials said the restriction had already been listed as part of GRAP measures to bring down emissions during high-pollution phases.The directive comes as Delhi’s Air Quality Index hovers around 400 at key pollution hotspots, such as Anand Vihar and ITO, at 10 am on Tuesday. The ban, issued last week, applies to all commercial food establishments using traditional tandoors fuelled by coal or firewood.
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta’s government has sparked a meme fest on social media after it announced a ban on coal and firewood tandoors across hotels, restaurants and eateries in the city last week. The move, mocked by netizens, was taken in a bid to tackle the pressing issue of pollution in the national capital. The new rule has sparked frustration among people, who have alleged that the Delhi government has not made enough efforts to tackle the growing problem of air pollution.
According to a report dated December 9, the order was issued under Section 31(A) of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981. Under the directions, all restaurants and eateries have been asked to immediately switch to electric, gas-based or other clean-fuel cooking appliances.The move of ban follows the implementation of Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across Delhi-NCR, which was enforced last Saturday as air quality deteriorated further.
The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) stated that its GRAP sub-committee has decided to implement all measures under Stage IV, also referred to as the “severe+” category, with immediate effect, following the crossing of critical pollution thresholds.
Under GRAP IV restrictions, any open burning of biomass, waste or similar materials, which can include coal, is strictly prohibited. The ban on traditional tandoors aligns with these curbs, as authorities seek to clamp down on all identifiable sources contributing to hazardous air conditions.
A slight shift in wind brought brief relief to Delhi and the National Capital Region on Tuesday, thinning the dense fog that had choked visibility and pushed air pollution into the severe zone. But while conditions improved on the ground, flight disruptions continued to ripple through the city’s main airport.
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