New Delhi: As Diwali is around the corner, the air quality of national capital begins to deteriorate even before the celebration begins. A notable layer of smog is visible in almost all parts of the city. The AQI in some areas like Anand Vihar, Bawana Industrial Area, ITO, Lodhi Road, Chandni Chowk reached ‘severe category’ as of October 27.
On Sunday morning, the highest AQI was once again recorded in Anand Vihar which stood at 406, it falls under severe category as per the guidelines of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Other areas with high AQI include Nehru Nagar (401), Sonia Vihar (400), Vivek Vihar (404), Jahangirpuri (404), Bawana (392), Alipur (398), Rohini (380), Shadipur (342), Mandir Marg (350), Patparganj (374) and Mundka (356).
As per the guidelines of CPCB, AQI reading between 0-50 is categorised as ‘good’, 50-100 as ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 as ‘moderate’, 201-300 as ‘poor’, 301-400 as very poor’, and 401-500 as ‘severe’.
Residents complains of experiencing health problems
As the air quality remains in ‘very poor’ to ‘severe’ category, the residents have been complaining of several health ailments like difficulty in breathing, throat discomfort, burning sensation in eyes, headaches and other cough like symptoms. This is the quality of air when Diwali is still a week away and the stubble burning incidences have not reached its peak.
The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), a high powered central agency has already invoked GRAP-II in Delhi-NCR since October 21. Even after the enforcement of GRAP stage-II the AQI reading has been crossing 300 mark in most part of the city.
Rai blames it on increased stubble burning incidences in Haryana and UP
On Saturday, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai met with Union Ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Bhupender Yadav and environment ministers from neighboring states for discussing the worsening of air quality of the national capital. In a statement Rai said that the stubble burning incidents are going down in Punjab while they have gone up in other neighboring states like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
