Delhi Pollution: Only one day after exhibiting a slight improvement when it was in the ‘very poor’ category, Delhi‘s overall air quality reverted to the ‘severe’ category on Wednesday. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) statistics shows that at 7 am, the city’s overall air quality index (AQI) was 421.
Supreme Court’s Intervention on Connaught Place Smog Tower
At the meantime, with the Supreme Court’s intervention, the 23 crore-smog tower at Connaught Place, Delhi, which was locked up, is probably going to be “operationalized.” Officials from the maintenance and servicing department showed up at the smog tower. Ashwani Kumar, the head of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (CPCC), was summoned by the Supreme Court on Tuesday for allegedly shutting down the two smog towers in the nation’s capital. The court also ordered the towers to be operationalized right away.
Smog Tower’s Impressive Capacity and Scope
Constructed in 2021, the 24-meter-tall smog tower may filter 1,000 cubic metres of air each second within a one-kilometer radius. In addition, Delhi’s Environment Minister Gopal Rai has called a high-level meeting at the Secretariat at noon today to guarantee adherence to the pollution-related instructions imposed by the Supreme Court yesterday. Attendees at the meeting will include officials from the relevant departments as well as Ministers of Transport Kailash Gahlot and Revenue Atishi.
‘Severe’ Category Dominates Stations
With a few exceptions, almost every station registered an AQI in the “severe” category, including Lodi Road, JLN Stadium, Siri Fort, Aurobindo Marg, and Dilshad Garden. At six in the morning, an AQI of more than 400 was reported by a number of air monitoring stations, including those in Anand Vihar, Dwarka, Shadipur, Mandir Marg, ITO, R K Puram, Punjabi Bagh, North Campus, Mathura Road, Rohini, Patparganj, Okhla, India Gate, and Mundka.
Air Quality Readings in Key Delhi Areas
Anand Vihar recorded 452, RK Puram recorded 433, Punjabi Bagh recorded 460, and ITO recorded 413 for AQI. At 6 am, the air quality in Ghaziabad, Gurugram, Faridabad, and Noida was classified as “very poor,” while Greater Noida was the most polluted area in the National Capital Region (NCR) with an AQI of 474. Mumbai’s AQI this morning was in the’moderate’ range, so things aren’t getting much better there either. At Bandra Kurla Complax, the AQI was 200.
Court’s Intervention in Air Quality Crisis
Even before Diwali, yesterday at 10 p.m., the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Anand Vihar, Delhi, reached a staggering 999, placing it in the “hazardous” category. In light of the deteriorating air quality in the nation’s capital, the Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the governments of Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan to cease burning their beards. The lawyer representing the Centre was directed by the Supreme Court to strongly advise Punjab to put out agricultural fires and to assist the states in “shifting to an alternative crop (to paddy)” in order to prevent farm fires.
Justice Kaul’s Stern Warning on Air Quality Crisis
“I don’t know you have got all the officers… we have zero patience level on this…,” Justice Kaul said. The Supreme Court further said that all states, not just Delhi and its surrounding regions, were subject to its orders prohibiting the use of prohibited substances in firecrackers. The explanation was given during a hearing on a request to order Rajasthan to carry out the court’s ruling prohibiting the use of specific firecrackers and minimising noise and air pollution.
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