NEW DELHI: A string of anti-pollution measures in Delhi appear to be faltering, somewhere, somehow. The evidence presented itself on Tuesday as the city’s overall 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) was 471 at 1 pm on Tuesday, a ‘severe plus’ category, for the second consecutive day.
The city government is likely to fall back on odd-even rules and work-from-home measures.
Gopal Rai, Environment Minister, said as much, emphasizing the government will take a final call based on experts’ advice. “We deeply regret this situation,” said the minister, adding “This is the time of medical emergency.”
Under the ‘odd-even' scheme, vehicles with registration numbers ending in even digits are allowed on even dates, while those with registration numbers ending in odd digits are permitted on odd dates.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed the 24-hour level of PM2.5 (a key pollutant) registering a decline on Tuesday in most places in Delhi, compared to Monday.
According to the met department, several monitoring stations in the national capital regions recorded an AQI of over 490 at 11 am. Alipur registered the highest AQI reading at 494, followed by Narela and Sonia Vihar at 492, and Anand Vihar and Vivek Vihar, both at 491.
Rai has written to the Centre seeking clearance for artificial rain and call an urgent meeting with experts in IIT-Kanpur. He hit out at the Centre accusing its environment minister of “sleeping over repeated requests by the Delhi government to call an emergency meeting” over the alarming pollution.
Taking a jibe at the pollution crisis, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor took to social media and questioned, “Is Delhi still fit to be India’s national capital?” The post by the Thiruvananthapuram MP sparked a debate with manyusers suggesting a shift to one of the cities like Chennai or Hyderabad, where the AQI is better.