New Delhi: With thick blanket of toxic smog engulfing most parts of northern India on Monday and readings of air quality in the capital New Delhi hitting highest this year, the national capital is currently breathing in air that is 60 times more toxic than the prescribed level by World Health Organisation, reported news agency AFP.
The air quality level plunged to ‘severe plus’ levels. According to the Central Pollution Control Board, the Air Quality Index recorded at 7 am was 483 in the national capital.
A toxic foam was seen floating on the Yamuna River in Kalindi Kunj, as residents complained of difficulty in breathing and irritation in the eyes.
Various piecemeal government initiatives have failed to measurably address the problem, with the smog blamed for thousands of premature deaths each year and particularly impacting the health of children and the elderly.
Levels of PM2.5 pollutants — dangerous cancer-causing microparticles that enter the bloodstream through the lungs — peaked at 907 micrograms per cubic metre on Monday morning, according to IQAir pollution monitors, with a reading above 15 in a 24-hour period considered unhealthy by the WHO.
Individual monitoring stations noted even higher levels — one recorded PM2.5 pollutants at 980, 65 times the WHO maximum.
SC grills Delhi govt:
The Supreme Court on Monday questioned the Delhi government over delay in implementation of stricter anti-pollution measures under GRAP-4, and said it will not allow scaling down of the preventive measures without its prior permission. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih pointed out that there was a delay in implementation of preventive measures under stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) even after the Air Quality Index (AQI) touched alarming levels in the national capital.
At the outset, the counsel for the Delhi government informed the bench that stage 4 of GRAP has been implemented from Monday and heavy vehicles have been banned from entering the national capital.
“The moment the AQI reaches between 300 and 400, stage 4 has to be invoked. How can you take risk in these matters by delaying applicability of stage 4 of GRAP,” the bench told the counsel.
It told the state government that the court wants to know what steps it has taken to curb the alarming rise of pollution level.
“We won’t allow scaling down of preventive measures under stage 4 even if AQI goes below 450. Stage 4 will continue till court permits,” the bench said, adding it will hear the matter in detail at the end of the day’s work.
On Sunday, the CAQM announced stricter pollution control measures for the Delhi-NCR under GRAP-4, effective from 8 am on Monday, including a ban on truck entry and a temporary halt on construction at public projects.
