After remaining in the 'very poor' category for four days, the national capital's air quality deteriorated to the 'Hazardous' category. The city saw a warm day on Wednesday with a maximum temperature of 32 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season's average, while the mercury settled at 24 degrees Celsius, normal for this time of the year, the India Meteorological Department said.
Anand Vihar (551), Wazirpur (421), Punjabi Bagh (414), Parparganj (366), Sriniwaspuri (335), R.K. Puram (312) recorded their air quality in the 'Hazardous' zone (AQI above 400).
Check here your city's weather forecast for today
The city's air quality deteriorated to 'very poor' on October 28 due to slow wind speed at night and a dip in the temperatures. It is expected to remain in the same category for a few more days, according to the Centre's Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi.
'Next 20 days critical'
Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said, "From November 1, the next 15 to 20 days are critical. Scientists are saying that the temperature is dropping and the speed of air has decreased, so pollutants are at a lower level. Yesterday, AQI was nearly 350... Due to the work going on in the 13 hotspots in Delhi, the situation is fairly under control. At some hotspots, vehicle pollution's contribution is high."
"Today there is a meeting of different departments to analyze GRAP-II, which was implemented in all of Delhi. We have asked for reports from different places to know what the sources of local pollution are...We have requested that the state governments send CNG or BS-VI buses from the depot itself...The report released by CAQM shows that stubble burning has reduced, but its impact can be seen on Delhi pollution."
Supreme Court's order
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan governments to file affidavits enumerating measures initiated by them to control it. Observing that until a couple of decades ago this was the best time in Delhi, the court said the city is now marred by worsening air quality and it is difficult to even step outside the house. The top court also directed the CAQM to submit in a tabular form the result of the relevant period when the problem started and the current ground situation, including parameters like the Air Quality Index (AQI) and the number of incidents of farm fires.
