As smog irritates Delhi, Sisodia mulls ‘war footing’ ways to combat it

As Delhi pollution levels crossing the dangerous mark , Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday called a high-level meeting with all departments concerned to discuss steps to combat it on a "war footing".

The meeting will be held at the Delhi Secretariat where all ministers and officials concerned will discuss plans to tackle rising air pollution.  "Air pollution is a serious health concern for Delhi. Have called a high level meeting today, to ensure work at war footing," Sisodia tweeted.

On Monday, the city woke up to the season's worst air quality as smoke from Diwali fireworks, coupled with moisture and nearly stagnant wind movement, shrouded the city in a thick cover of smog.

On Monday, commuters in several areas found it difficult to find their way as the visibility level plunged to nearly zero in several areas.  As per DPCC's real time monitoring mechanism, the ultra pollutant PM 2.5 had yesterday breached the safe standard by over 14 times at Anand Vihar, Delhi's most polluted area, at 2:30 AM. Many other areas including densely populated R K Puram had nearly similar readings.