The city recorded a minimum temperature of 16.6 degree Celsius, one notch above the normal. The humidity oscillated between 88 per cent and 72 per cent, the IMD said.
Delhi Pollution: The air quality in several areas of Delhi was recorded in the ‘severe’ category on Saturday as a thick toxic haze lingered over the city for the fifth consecutive day. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the city’s maximum temperature stood at 29.5 degree Celsius, a notch below the season’s average.
The city recorded a minimum temperature of 16.6 degree Celsius, one notch above the normal. The humidity oscillated between 88 per cent and 72 per cent, the IMD said. The air quality index (AQI) at many places in the National Capital Region (NCR) crossed the 450 mark.
The national capital recorded an AQI of 433 at 7 pm, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The AQI at Anand Vihar was 488. It was 487 at Shadipur, 474 at Wazirpur, 465 at Punjabi Bag, 454 at Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, 463 at Bawana, 448 at Okhla and 459 at Rohini, the CPCB data showed.
In Delhi-NCR, the AQI in Greater Noida stood at 498 at 7 pm. It was 408 at Ghaziabad, 441 at Faridabad and 423 at Gurugram, the CPCB said. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.
Delhi Government Writes To Centre:
Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai shot off a letter to Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav urging that only CNG, electric and BS VI-compliant vehicles be permitted in Delhi-NCR. He also requested for an emergency meeting with NCR states to address the issue.
Data from the Central Pollution Control Board showed Delhi’s air quality index increased by over 200 points between October 27 and November 3, culminating in a descent into the “severe plus” category (above 450) on Friday.
On Saturday, the 24-hour average AQI, recorded at 4 pm every day, marginally improved from 468 on Friday to 415 on Saturday. Friday’s 24-hour average AQI was the worst since the previous high of 471 recorded on November 12, 2021.
Rai also wrote to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, seeking the suspension of Delhi Pollution Control Committee chairman Ashwani Kumar for “arbitrarily halting” the operation of a large smog tower installed at Connaught Place two years ago to mitigate air pollution.
In his letter, Rai also sought disciplinary action against project in-charge Anwar Ali, whom he minister accused of changing his stance on the smog tower’s effectiveness under pressure from Kumar.
AAP VS BJP Over Delhi Pollution:
Meanwhile, the blame game between the AAP and the opposition BJP on the pollution crisis intensified. At a press conference, AAP chief spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar hit out at the BJP government in Haryana over the pollution crisis.
“The Khattar government in Haryana has done nothing for stubble management. If it wishes, we can send our experts from Punjab who can guide them on where machines are needed for stubble disposal,” she said.
She claimed out of 52 most polluted districts in the country, 20 are in Haryana.
BJP MP Manoj Tiwari alleged the “callous and frivolous attitude” of the Kejriwal government was responsible for the annual affair of toxic air quality in the city during winters.
In a letter to Kejriwal, he said it was high time to initiate measures to protect people and stop the blame game.
With Delhi breathing toxic air, doctors expressed concern that it is increasing respiratory and eye problems among children and the elderly.
The concentration of PM2.5, fine particulate matter capable of penetrating deep into the respiratory system and triggering health problems, exceeded the government-prescribed safe limit of 60 microgrammes per cubic metre by seven to eight times at multiple locations throughout Delhi-NCR.
It was 80 to 100 times the healthy limit of 5 microgrammes per cubic metre set by the WHO.