NEW DELHI: Delhi’s smog situation remained the same, just like previous years. The national capital did not experience a single day of ‘good’ quality air in 2024. In fact, throughout November, the AQI stayed above 300, which means ‘very poor’.
The government imposed various measures as part of its four-stage Graded Response Action Plan to mitigate the smog situation. However, their impact on fixing the AQI is yet to be studied, as December saw a few days with good wind speed and rain.
However, there is good news in store. Steps have already been taken that, in all likelihood, will help in cleansing air of pollutants. In July, the city added 320 new buses to its electric bus fleet. The then state transport minister, Kailash Gahlot, claimed that the city had the highest number of electric buses in any Indian city.
Additionally, the Delhi government launched a new portal to ease the solar panel rooftop installation process, and the residential projects will even get a subsidy of Rs 2,000 per kW as per the solar policy. Also, a proposal for installing solar units on 645 government buildings was approved this year only.
Delhi also saw an increase in the green cover, though marginal. According to India State Forest Report 2023, released in this month, there was an increase of 4.9 sq km in the tree cover, with the total standing now at 371.3 sq km. However, the report also recorded a slight dip in the forest cover.