Air pollution in the national capital reached ’hazardous’ levels with AQI soaring to 526 on Wednesday, choking residents and cloaking the city in thick smog. Visibility at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport dropped, leading to 79 flights being delayed and 6 cancelled, according to Flightradar. Moreoveer, the toxic air in the city prompted authorities to shut physical classes at schools and prohibit construction work in the city.
In the meantime, the Indian Railways said 13 trains were running late and 9 trains were put back due to smog in the national capital. According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the minimum temperature in the city dropped to 12.2 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, the lowest of the season, as cold northwesterly winds persisted in the region.
The national capuital on Monday witnessed a severe environmental crisis, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) reaching hazardous levels across various areas.
AQI at various locations in Delhi:
- Alipur: 490
- Anand Lok: 504
- Anand Prabat: 376
- Anand Vihar: 591
- Ashok Vihar Phase 1: 522
- Ashok Vihar Phase 2: 527
- Ashok Vihar Phases 3 and 4: 634
- Delhi Cantt: 258
- Dwarka Sector 11: 521
- Dwarka Sector 23: 390
- Greater Kailash II: 256
- GTB Nagar: 617
Meanwhile, Delhi Police conducted vehicle checks on Tuesday night to ensure the proper implementation of Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).
GRAP Stage IV enforces a ban on the operation of Delhi-registered BS-IV and older diesel-operated medium goods vehicles (MGVs) and heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), except those engaged in essential services.
Stage IV of GRAP has been in effect since 8:00 AM on November 18, in response to deteriorating air quality in Delhi-NCR.
Gopal Rai writes to Centre on pollution
Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Tuesday wrote to Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav, urging him to convene an emergency meeting with the Delhi Government, IIT Kanpur, and central government departments such as the DGCA, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), and Ministry of Defence. The meeting would aim to discuss the immediate implementation of cloud seeding as an emergency measure.
On Monday, the Supreme Court directed Delhi and other National Capital Region (NCR) governments to strictly implement GRAP Stage IV anti-pollution measures as the Air Quality Index (AQI) remains in the "severe" category.
