Choking Delhi: Air Quality Declines to ‘Poor’ with AQI Reaching 256
On October 25, Delhi Air was recorded as the poor category according to monitoring agencies and a prime improvement is dubious over the next few days. On Tuesday, Delhi’s moderate air quality index (AQI) stood at 238 at 10 a.m. and intensified from 220 at 4 p.m.
In Ghaziabad, the average AQI was 196, 258 in Faridabad and 176 in Gurugram, and in Noida 200 and 248 in Greater Noida.
The Delhi air quality goes between poor and very poor categories in the next four to five days according to the Centre’s Air Quality Warning System. An AQI between zero and 50 is added in good, 51 and 100 sufficient good, 101 and 200 average, 201 and 300 poor, and 301 and 400 is counted in the very poor. After May, for the first time, Delhi’s air quality became very poor on Sunday. Mainly a few drops in temperature and wind speed, which permit pollutants to assemble.
On Tuesday, many matters of firecrackers burning were also noticed from different parts of Delhi on the occasion of Dussehra. Intending with the practice of the last three months, Delhi launched an extensive ban on the making, storage, sale, and use of firecrackers within the capital city. Along with this, the Delhi government organized a public awareness campaign program,” Patakhe Nahi Diye Jalao,” which will be soon introduced to say no to burning the firecrackers.
Every year on Diwali, Antagonistic meteorological conditions and a cocktail of release from firecrackers and paddy straw burning is the prime element of pollution and push Delhi-NCR air quality to dangerous levels.
On Monday, the city government held a meeting with all district magistrates to take strict inspection in their areas and to take strict execution of all pollution reduction measures.
Gopal Rai, the Environment Minister of Delhi said the government should clarify the eight more polluted areas in addition to the surviving 13 in the national capital and a special team will be working there to find the main pollution element. They also asked the government to confirm the use of suppressant powder to decrease dust pollution in the city.
The dust suppressants could add chemical elements like calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, lignosulfonates, and several polymers. These chemicals work to attract and collect fine dust elements together, making them too heavy to become airborne.
The government environment department said that LG’s permits will not be accepted this year for the “ RED Light On Gaddi Off” campaign and the contributor will not take any consideration, unlike in the previous season. Engines on traffic signals can boost pollution levels by more than 9%, which is clarified by the Central Road Research Institute based on a 2019 study.
A category of emission inventory and source assigning studies taken out for Delhi in the past few years advised that on-road vehicle fatigue emissions account for 9% to 38% of PM2.5 emissions in the capital.
The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), an allowable body answerable for the foresighted execution of the pollution control plan known as the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), had on Saturday managed sources in the NCR to boost parking fees to decrease private transport and encourage the services of CNG or electric buses and metro trains amidst a likely increase in pollution levels.
In stage 2 of GRAP, this action will be taken when Delhi’s AQI is transferred to the very poor.
GRAP categorizes actions into four stages- Stage 1 Poor (AQI 201-300), Stage 2 very poor (AQI 301-400), Stage 3 severe (AQI 401-450), and Stage 4 severe plus (AQI> 450).
Last month, the Delhi government founded a 15-point action plan to decrease air pollution in the capital in upcoming winters, with a strong significance on managing dust pollution, vehicular emissions, and open burning of garbage.
