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New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will chaired a high-level meeting today amid surge of severe air pollution. Delhi’s Environment Minister Gopal Rai and officials of all concerned departments will attend this meeting. The meeting comes at a time when Delhi-NCR is currently in the grip of a severe air pollution crisis, with the overall air quality in the region falling into the ‘severe’ category.
Environment Minister Gopal Rai will talk to all concerned departments at 12 noon in Delhi Secretariat regarding increasing pollution and strict implementation of GRAP-4. In the wake of the increasing level of pollution, Phase IV of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) has been invoked in Delhi-NCR. GRAP-4 applies when the Air Quality Index (AQI) is above 450 or in the “severe plus” category.
Delhi is in the grip of dense fog and the air quality is severely polluted for the fifth consecutive day on Monday morning with the air quality index (AQI) still in the ‘severe’ category. Some of the worst-affected areas in the national capital include RK Puram (466), ITO (402), Patparganj (471), and New Moti Bagh (488).
AQI prevails in ‘severe’ category
According to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), a dense suffocating blanket of toxic smog continues to cloak Delhi today as the air quality remains in the ‘severe’ category. Pollution levels in Delhi have remained in the ‘severe’ category for the past few days recording an air quality index (AQI) of above 400 range at several locations in the national capital. Stage IV of GRAP was invoked in Delhi-NCR on Sunday in view of the worsening air quality.
The AQI in most areas across the city remained in the ‘severe’ category at 8 am. Most monitoring stations across Delhi recorded an air quality index (AQI) of above 400. AQI was recorded at at 466 in RK Puram, 402 in ITO, 471 in Patparganj and 488 in New Moti Bagh.
According to the Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting (SAFAR), the overall PM2.5 level (fine particulate matter in the air with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometer) was recorded at 321 and the PM10 level at 488 in Delhi.
The ever-increasing air pollution has suffocated people and forced them to stay indoors. A similar situation has been witnessed in the neighboring National Capital Region, where AQI continues to be seen in the ‘severe’ category. A thick layer of smog covered the capital city and people woke up gasping.
Noida’s residents also woke up to ‘severe’ air quality with almost all of its monitoring stations recording over 616 AQI as of 8 am. Gurugram, also in NCR, also recorded ‘severe’ category air quality with AQI at 516.
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’. Anything beyond 500 falls under the ‘hazardous’ category.
