By The Daily Bharat Express (Web-Desk): Delhi’s current air quality situation is truly reaching horror-story proportions.
Anand Vihar, on Thursday afternoon, hit a PM2.5 level that’s 132 times deadlier than what the World Health Organization says is safe for humans.
In and around Anand Vihar, hourly PM2.5 levels reached 1,985 micrograms per cubic meter during that hour. This is 33 times beyond the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). After some time, though, the concentration dropped to 276 micrograms per cubic meter.
Rohini also faced high pollution, with PM2.5 levels at 935 micrograms per cubic meter, exceeding NAAQS by 15.6 times and WHO’s safe standard by 62 times at 8 pm on Thursday.
Narela recorded a concerning PM2.5 concentration of 985 micrograms per cubic meter on Friday morning, surpassing NAAQS and WHO safe limits. Vivek Chattopadhyaya from the Centre for Science and Environment emphasized issues in Narela, such as industrial activities, dust, and refuse burning, and highlighted the lack of local monitoring and action. He called for transparency, urging agencies to make their pollution control reports public.
On Friday at 4 pm, RK Puram reached the maximum AQI value of 500 according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Some private apps, however, monitor up to 1,000. Fourteen monitoring stations displayed AQI above 490 for many hours, with locations like Okhla Phase 2, Siri Fort, Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, IGI Airport, Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, and Punjabi Bagh registering high readings. The lowest AQI was recorded at IHBAS in Dilshad Garden at 371, classified as ‘very poor.’
Sunil Dahiya from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air emphasized that episodic events contribute to background pollution levels, but local sources like transportation, industries, power generation, waste burning, construction, and dust remain major pollution contributors. Dahiya called for efficient and effective local and regional measures rather than relying on ineffective solutions like smog towers and anti-smog guns.
Lucknow Hit Too
The state’s capital too has been affected by the alarmingly high air pollution levels in UP. On Wednesday, Lucknow’s AQI plunged to ‘Poor’ category. This was perhaps the second time in the last six months when the air quality index for the city dipped to ‘Poor’.
Yogi Adityanath Pins Blame
Blaming Punjab and Haryana for the deteriorating air quality, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said in a statement: “On my way to Delhi, I landed in Ghaziabad. As soon as I stepped out of the aircraft, my eyes started burning, I realised it was due to smog. When I checked NASA satellite images to see the areas affected by stubble burning, I noticed that the entire area of Punjab and Haryana was highlighted with ‘red’. And when air from these states travels, it envelopes entire Delhi and parts of UP.”
The statement came a few days after the Supreme Court, concerned over the alarmingly high air pollution levels in Delhi, issued notices to the governments of Delhi, UP, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan to submit an affidavit within a week, detailing the steps they have taken to curb the annual menace.
Stubble Burning Dips in UP
UP’s agriculture department said a sharp dip has been seen in incidents of stubble burning — 906 cases up to October in 2023. “It is far less when it comes to the stubble burning incident figures in previous years. In 2017, UP witnessed more than 8,500 cases of stubble burning,” said CP Srivastava, deputy director, Agriculture, UP.
According to the available data, a total of 3,017 cases of stubble burning were reported in 2022. However, due to stringent measures and awareness campaigns, only 906 cases have been reported in the first 10 months of 2023. Previously, as many as 8,784 cases of stubble burning were reported in 2017, 6,623 in 2018, 4,230 in 2019, 4,659 in 2020, and 4,242 in 2021.
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