Air quality in Delhi continued to be in the 'severe' category on Monday, however, a slight increase in the wind speed brought down the pollution levels in the national capital. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, meanwhile, on Monday, said the Delhi government will beat pollution like they beat dengue. Kejriwal's statement came as he responded to the Bharatiya Janata Party's attack on the odd-even scheme, which kicks in from today.
Commenting further, Kejriwal said the national capital cannot fight the overall pollution in North India, adding the neighbouring states should also fight pollution.
"Delhi alone cannot fight pollution in North India, the neighbouring states should also fight pollution," the chief minister said.
Speaking on the surge on cab fares, Kejriwal said any overcharging by cabs will be punished. Responding to the BJP, the chief minister said the party should come out in support of the odd-even scheme for Delhiites.
At 4.38 am, Delhi's air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 438. The AQI at Alipur, Narela and Bawana were registered at 493, 486 and 472 respectively.
On Sunday, the national capital's average AQI stood at 494, the highest since November 6, 2016 when it was 497.
An AQI between 0-50 is considered 'good', 51-100 'satisfactory', 101-200 'moderate', 201-300 'poor', 301-400 'very poor' and 401-500 'severe'. Above 500 falls in the 'severe plus' category.
In the National Capital Region (NCR), Noida (452), Ghaziabad (474) and Greater Noida (454), Gurgaon (396), Faridabad (426) were breathing extremely polluted air.
On Sunday, 21 of the 37 air quality monitoring stations recorded AQI between 490 and 500 with air quality sensors at Aya Nagar, Ashok Vihar, Anand Vihar and Aurobindo Marg peaking out at 7 pm.
The Delhi government had on Friday directed closure of schools till November 5 and banned construction activities after the Supreme Court-mandated Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority declared a public health emergency as air quality plummeted.
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