Air Pollution In India

As Delhi's air quality deteriorated to the "severe" category on Monday due to unfavourable meteorological conditions, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) directed all NCR states to implement anti-pollution curbs with greater vigour. Delhi's 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 434 at 4 pm on Monday, worsening from 371 on Sunday. An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe". An official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said low temperatures, calm winds and high moisture content led to trapping of pollutants. Considering the sudden spike in air pollution, the CAQM held an urgent review meeting with officials from Delhi and NCR states, including Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, and directed them to implement the provisions of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in the field with "greater vigour to prevent further deterioration of air quality". The commission also stressed on the need to

Respiratory illnesses increase during the winter season due to air pollutants settling down in the atmosphere

Easing of proximity norms will not only impact air and water quality but could also turn vast tracts of farm land barred, say experts

Experts say cloudy skies in 2022 and farmers only burning part of the stubble could have led to an underestimation of this year's stubble fires

While the temperature is dipping across most of the country, the Air Quality Index (AQI) continues to remain above severe in most of the cities

Delhi needs local solutions

Under the campaign, the authorities are appealing to farmers to "donate" the paddy stubble to the "gauthans", the livestock sheds

Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari has said that state govts have been told to scrap 15-year-old vehicles plying on the roads

The return of smog season in India's capital has again left residents asking why nothing has changed; the answer may be largely political

As per the SAFAR, the concentration of both PM 2.5 and PM 10 was recorded at 276 and 177 under poor and moderate category, respectively

New Delhi's air quality had improved on Wednesday to the 'moderate' category

On Monday Punjab reported only four incidents of residue burning as against 2,175 reported on Sunday

National Capital Region (NCR) continued to witness bad air as Noida, which is part of the national capital region, recorded an AQI of 344 in the 'very poor' category

Delhi Police has issued over 5,800 challans after the city government restricted the movement of BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel four-wheelers, it said. The traffic police stopped or issued challans to 5,882 vehicles for violations till 6 am on Friday, it said. "As part of restrictions on BS III Petrol and BS IV Diesel vehicles till 13th November to fight pollution, 5882 Vehicles were stopped/challaned for violations till 6 AM on 11.11.2022. Emergency vehicles are exempted," it said in a tweet. During a recent review meeting, the Delhi government's transport department decided that the curbs under Stage III of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) should remain in place for the next few days instead of a no knee-jerk reaction. "BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel four-wheelers in Delhi will remain banned under Stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan," Environment Minister Gopal Rai had said on Monday. In an order on Monday, the city government's transport department had said owners of

The device must clean up particulate matter, allergens and ultra-fine dust particles

According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the city's Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 303 on Thursday morning, while the PM 10 level was 195 or "moderate"

Pusa recorded an AQI of 342 while Dhirpur recorded an AQI of 320. Lodhi Road recorded 329, Delhi Airport (T3) recorded an AQI of 326 and Mathura road recorded an AQI of 332

According to data from the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the concentration of the PM 2.5 and PM 10 was recorded at 324 and 243, respectively

The recurring problem of farm fires from the neighbouring states contributed 21 per cent to PM2.5 in Delhi, which was 34 per cent on Friday

A little less poor air quality in Delhi's satellite cities gave some respite to the people, but it is only a relative term from the previous day