Page 5 - Air Pollution

Delhi breathes easy as AQI remains in the moderate category for 2nd day

The air quality in Delhi remained in the moderate category for the second consecutive day on Thursday morning, with an overall AQI of 173, according to SAFAR

Iran to close all schools in Tehran for a day because of high air pollution

All schools in the Iranian capital of Tehran will close for a day because of dangerously poor air quality, the country's state television reported on Tuesday. Primary schools have been closed for the past two days in Tehran, which has over 10 million residents, but now, increasing pollution is forcing the closure of all schools on Wednesday, the TV said. Classes will continue online. Similar measures were announced for Tehran's neighbouring Alborz province. the school week in Iran is from Saturday to Wednesday. Also Tuesday, authorities urged the elderly, those who are sick and children to take precautions. Tehran's air is among the most polluted in the world and school closures because of poor air quality are a regular occurrence. The smog is mostly caused by heavy traffic as well as factory pollution and typically worsens during the cold season. Inversions commonly hover over Tehran in the winter. The city is surrounded by tall hills and mountains on three sides. As cold, stag

Beijing is tackling its air pollution problem; Why can't New Delhi?

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

Delhi air quality improves to 'poor' category with overall AQI at 286

As per the SAFAR data, the air quality in Noida was recorded in the 'Very poor' category with 312 AQI while the AQI was reported in the 'Poor' category at 266 in Gurugram.

Delhi's air quality in 'very poor' category; AQI at 314: CPCB data

Air quality in the national capital was recorded in the 'very poor' category on Sunday with the 24-hour Air Quality Index settling at 314, according to Central Pollution Control Board data. 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'. The maximum temperature in Delhi settled at 26.8 degrees Celsius, a notch below normal and the minimum at 9.6 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal, the India Meteorological Department said. The relative humidity oscillated between 90 per cent and 36 per cent, it said. The weatherman has predicted mainly clear skies on Monday with mist in the morning. The minimum and maximum temperatures in the national capital are likely to settle at 9 degrees Celsius and 27 degrees Celsius respectively. On Saturday, Delhi recorded its coldest morning of the season with a minimum temperature of 9 degrees Celsius -- three notches below .

Delhi's air quality remains 'poor'; min temp recorded at 9.6 deg Celsius

Air quality in the national capital continued to be in the 'poor' category on Sunday as the air quality index stood at 296, according to the Central Pollution Control Board. An AQI (air quality index) 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'. Meanwhile, Delhiites woke up to a pleasant morning with the minimum temperature settling at 9. 6 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal, the India Meteorological Department said. Relative humidity in the city was recorded at 79 per cent and the weatherman has predicted mainly clear skies throughout the day. On Saturday, the national capital had recorded its coldest morning of the season with a minimum temperature of 9 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal.

Delhi's air quality 'poor'; min temp of 9 deg C, lowest of season so far

Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 9 degrees Celsius, the lowest this season so far, and "poor" air quality on Saturday. The capital's 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 280. The air quality is not predicted to deteriorate significantly in the coming days. An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the city recorded a minimum temperature of 9 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal. It was the lowest temperature in the month since November 23, 2020 (6.2 degrees Celsius). The maximum temperature settled at 27 degrees Celsius. According to Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) data, Punjab reported 426 farm fires on Saturday as against 701 on Friday. However, the share of farm fires in Delhi's PM2.5 pollution rose from 11 per cent on Friday to 14 per cent on Saturday, according to SAFAR, a forecasting agency under the Ministry of Earth Sciences. Th

Delhi pollution: Air quality in 'very poor' category on Saturday morning

The Air Quality Index in Noida and Gurugram this morning is 321 and 283, respectively, SAFAR data showed.

No need to invoke GRAP's stage 3 in Delhi-NCR for now: Air quality panel

The Centre' air quality panel on Friday said the ongoing anti-pollution actions under stages I and II of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) will continue in Delhi-NCR and there is no need for invoking curbs under stage III at present. In view of the improvement in the air quality, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) had on Monday directed authorities to revoke the curbs enforced in Delhi-NCR under stage three of GRAP, including a ban on construction and demolition activities, barring essential projects. The sub-committee for invoking anti-pollution curbs under GRAP held a meeting on Wednesday to review the air quality situation and the progress of the actions implemented in the region. The panel has decided that the ongoing actions under "stages 1 and 2 of GRAP shall continue and there does not seem a need to invoke Stage III of GRAP at this stage", the CAQM said in a statement. "According to the dynamic model and weather/meteorological forecast provided by the Ind

Fix timeline to rectify cause of poor AQI at hotspots: NHRC asks Delhi govt

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has asked the Delhi government to fix a timeline to rectify the cause of poor air quality at hotspots and inquired about the status of alternative landfill sites. The NHRC on Friday held the third hearing of chief secretaries of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi on air pollution in Delhi NCR in light of reports submitted by them in response to its directions in the last meeting. Seeking further reports, the next date of hearing has been fixed for November 25. "The commission asked the Delhi government to fix a timeline to find out and rectify the cause of poor air quality at the hot spots and when these will become normal. The commission also enquired about the status of alternative landfill sites for garbage disposal and cleaning thereof," it said in a statement. While taking note of some of the actions taken by the state governments to control air pollution by managing stubble, dust, and hospital sewage, among others, the panel ..

BJP targets Delhi CM Kejriwal over cleaning of Yamuna river, air pollution

The BJP on Wednesday accused Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of "doing nothing" to clean the Yamuna river or control air pollution in the city despite making promises elections after elections. BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia claimed that the chief minister failed to clean the Yamuna despite governing the national capital for the last eight years, adding that the Centre and the Delhi L-G managed to clean a 3-km stretch of the river in just three-and-a-half months. "Kejriwal had visited South Korea's Seoul in December 2018 to learn how a polluted river was cleaned there. What did he learn there that despite 50 months, Yamuna's all important parameters, including biochemical oxygen demand, dissolved oxygen and fecal coliform, are much above the permissible limit?" he asked. The Yamuna has permissible limit of fecal coliform bacteria when it enters the city which rises to over 6.5 lakh/100 ml as the river leaves the city, he said. "This over 1,200 per cent more fecal coliform ...

Delhi's November AQI: With 3 days in 'severe' grade, 2022 better than 2021

Delhi-NCR has not recorded a single 'good' air quality day in the first two weeks of Nov in 5 years

Delhi pollution: Air quality in 'poor' category, likely to improve today

Delhi's air quality was recorded in the poor category on Wednesday morning but it is predicted to improve as favourable wind speed is likely during the day. The capital's average air quality index (AQI) stood at 262, worsening from 227 at 4 pm on Tuesday. It was 294 on Monday and 303 on Sunday. An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered poor, 301 and 400 very poor, and 401 and 500 severe. The city recorded a minimum temperature of 13.2 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 28 degrees Celsius. Temperatures are predicted to drop due to winds blowing in from snow-clad mountains in the north. Delhi saw a significant improvement in the air quality over the last three days due to better wind speed and a sharp decline in farm fires in Punjab. According to data from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Punjab reported 141 farm fires on Tuesday and just four on Monday. A total of 2,467 incidents of stubble burning were reported in the agrarian sta

Delhi: Air quality improves but still in 'poor' category; AQI at 221

NCR also witnessed some improvement in the air quality as Gurugram fell in the 'Moderate' category with an AQI of 162 and Delhi Airport (T3) recorded 'poor' quality air with an AQI of 218.

As air quality improves, panel revokes Stage III of GRAP in Delhi-NCR

The sub-committee for taking actions to reduce air pollution under Graded Response Action Plan held a review meeting on Monday

Delhi's air quality improves to 'poor', max temp settles at 31.2 deg C

Delhi's air quality on Monday improved to the poor category while the maximum temperature was recorded at 31.2 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season's average. The capital's 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 294. It was 303 on Sunday, as was on Saturday. An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe". The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Monday directed authorities to revoke the curbs enforced in Delhi-NCR under stage three of the Graded Response Action Plan with immediate effect. This means construction and demolition activities can resume in the region. However, user agencies need to strictly follow dust control norms. The CAQM noted that Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) on Monday (294) was about 100 points below the threshold for invoking GRAP stage 3 actions. The minimum temperature settled at 14.1 degrees Celsius, a notch above the season's average, the India Meteorological Department

Air quality panel revokes Stage III of GRAP as Delhi pollution eases

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

No extension on curbs on plying of BS-III, BS-IV vehicles: Delhi govt

The Delhi government has decided not to extend the curbs on plying of BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel vehicles in the capital in view of the improvement in air quality, according to officials. The restrictions on plying of these vehicles was in place till November 13 as part of the curbs under Stage 3 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). The Delhi government's Transport department reviewed the situation on Monday and decided that the curbs will not be extended, sources said. "Considering the recent improvement in the air quality in NCT of Delhi, the restrictions imposed for plying of BS III petrol and BS IV diesel LMVs (four wheelers) in the jurisdiction of NCT of Delhi are hereby revoked with immediate effect till further orders. "The department will closely monitor the AQI level in the NCT of Delhi and directions will be reviewed accordingly," read the official order issued by the department on Monday. During a review meeting last week, the transport department had decided

Best of BS Opinion: Green yields, the routine air pollution crisis & more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

The routine air pollution crisis

The fact is Delhi is also part of the pollution problem - its sources of combustion add to the pollution of neighbouring states and theirs to Delhi