When the nation’s capital awoke to visibility-limiting smog once more on Tuesday morning, certain areas of the air quality remained in the “Severe” category. The entire Air Quality Index (AQI) for Delhi at 9 a.m. today was 361, which is deemed “Severe,” according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). At 6 am the AQI recorded at RK Puram was 417, Punjabi Bagh (410) ITO (430) Jahangirpuri (428), Anand Vihar (355), Ashok Vihar (355), IGI Airport T3 (426) and Rohini (417).
The effects of the recent rain in the national capital wore off on Monday when the city recorded an AQI of 358 at 4 pm (an average of the past 24 hours), which falls under ‘Very Poor’ category after Diwali Sunday night. The air quality soon dropped to ‘Severe’ category later in the afternoon, after which a haze engulfed the city making the visibility short.
Meanwhile, Noida witnessed similar air quality, with most areas falling under the ‘Very Poor’ category. Despite the Supreme Court’s ban on firecrackers to mitigate pollution, people in several parts of the national capital flouted the ban by bursting fireworks.
Earlier on Monday, Environment Minister Gopal Rai chaired a meeting with the officers of the Environment Department at the Delhi Secretariat and announced that the anti-pollution measures under GRAP IV regulations will remain enforced in Delhi until the next order of Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM).
“All trucks, except those carrying essential goods and connected to essential services and CNG and electric trucks, will not be allowed to enter Delhi,” Rai added.’ The Environment Minister also spoke about the bursting of firecrackers in Delhi on Diwali and said, “There is a ban on production, storage and sale of firecrackers in Delhi. The firecrackers were brought to Delhi from UP and Haryana. The police of Delhi, Haryana and UP are under the control of BJP and no common man can easily supply the firecrackers amid the monitoring of these three police forces. Some specific people have done this.”
