Delhiites Wake Up To Thick Layer Of Smog As City’s Air Quality Dips

A layer of haze lingered over Delhi on Monday morning as the national capital’s air quality plunged to the ‘poor category’. According to aqicn.org, several areas of the national capital including Jahagirpuri, Punjabi Bagh and Wazirpur crossed the 239-mark. 

Today morning, the AQI of Delhi-NCR areas including Dwarka (194), Pusa Road (182), Rohini (207), Mandir Marg (179), Noida Sector-62 (217), Noida Sector-125 (202), Ghaziabad (252) and Anand Vihar (218) wavered between ‘poor’ to ‘moderate’. 

In a tweet, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, "All the gains achieved so far on pollution front will be nullified. Whereas, we need to do a lot in Delhi and we are trying, however, all governments and all agencies need to work to stop crop burning also (sic)." 

Take a look:  

Yes Rahul. All the gains achieved so far on pollution front in Delhi will be nullified. Whereas we need to do a lot in Delhi also and we are trying, however all govts and all agencies need to work to stop crop burning also. https://t.co/Wi3rjq1bfO

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 13, 2019

On Sunday, the AQI in several parts of the national capital was ‘very poor’. According to a report of Central Pollution Control Board data, the AQI in Anand Vihar, Wazirpur, Vivek Vihar, Mundka, Bawana, Jahangirpuri was 327, 323, 317, 309, 302 and 300, respectively. 

It is to be noted that the aqicn.org offers a real-time air quality index for more than 60 countries in the world. An Air Quality Index (AQI) between 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 is satisfactory, 101-200 moderate, 201-300 poor, 301-400 very poor and 401-500 is marked as severe/hazardous. 

However, on October 15, stricter measures to fight air pollution will come into force in Delhi and its neighbourhood as part of the Graded Response Action Plan, which was first implemented in Delhi-NCR in 2017. 

These measures include increasing bus and metro services, hiking parking fees and stopping the use of diesel generator sets when the air quality turns "poor". 

When the situation turns "severe", GRAP recommends closure of brick kilns, stone crushers and hot mix plants, sprinkling of water, frequent mechanised cleaning of roads and maximising power generation from natural gas. 

Also Read: Layer Of Haze Lingers In Delhi-NCR As Air Quality Remains 'Poor'

The measures to be followed in the "emergency" situation include stopping entry of trucks in Delhi, ban on construction activities and introduction of the odd-even car rationing scheme. 

(With Inputs From PTI)

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