The Court has sought the response of the Solicitor General on construction in Delhi aspect. The apex court now posted the matter for hearing on December 2.
The Delhi government has extended the ban on construction and demolition activities in the national capital as the air quality index remains in the very poor category.
The Supreme Court directed state governments -- Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana -- to comply with the directions issued by the Commission for Air Quality Management in Delhi-NCR and sought compliance reports from them.
The PM 2.5 was recorded at 372 in the 'very poor' category at 6:20 am. Gurugram and Noida recorded AQI of 349 and 497 in the 'very poor' and 'severe' categories respectively.
There will be no ban on the entry of private vehicles into the national capital. Earlier, the entry of trucks was banned till today.
The city's 24-hour air quality index (AQI) stood at 406 on Friday. Neighbouring Faridabad (434), Ghaziabad, (376) Gurugram (378) and Noida (392) also recorded their air quality in the 'very poor' category.
Delhi's 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) read 400 on Thursday evening. The air quality in the capital has remained very poor or severe on most of the days in November so far.
The Supreme Court had on Wednesday reimposed the ban on construction activities in Delhi-NCR until further orders. Non-polluting construction activities such as plumbing work, interior decoration, electrical work and carpentry are allowed.
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'.
Air quality visibly improved in Delhi after strong surface winds swept through the city on Sunday with today's AQI being recorded at 280 by the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).
The air pollution level in the National Capital Region (NCR) fluctuated between "very poor" and "poor". Gurugram and Noida recorded AQI of 283 and 303 in the "poor" and "very poor" categories on Wednesday morning.
Due to assembly polls in Punjab, fines are not being imposed to please farmers, senior advocate Vikas Singh told the Supreme Court.
The air quality of Delhi is likely to improve to the 'poor' or 'lower end of very poor' category for the next two days.
Though the order issued by the environment department did not make it clear if the curbs on construction and demolition activities will continue, a senior official said the ban has been lifted.
According to the directions of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), schools and colleges will remain closed till further orders.
All schools in Delhi will remain closed till further orders in view of the prevailing air pollution in the national capital.
In Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and Cluster buses, the maximum number of passengers allowed to travel in standing position will be 50 per cent of the seating capacity.
Construction and demolition work has also been banned till November 21 in Delhi, while schools and other educational institutes will remain closed in the national capital until further orders, Rai informed.
The campaign to reduce Delhi's air pollution was started on October 18 and was to end on November 18 but seeing the spike in pollution levels, the government has decided to start the second phase of the campaign from Friday (November 19).
According to the fire department, the 13 identified pollution hotspots include Anand Vihar, Ashok Vihar, Bawana, Dwarka, Jahangirpuri, Mundka, Narela, Okhla, Punjabi Bagh, R K Puram, Rohini, Vivek Vihar, and Wazirpur.
Top News
Latest News
