NEW DELHI: Delhi’s air quality slipped back to the ‘severe’ category on Saturday after showing a slight improvement by dropping to the ‘very poor’ level for the most part of Friday.
As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), out of 31 stations, only 11 stations recorded AQI below 400 at 4:30 pm.
Meanwhile, the data further showed that out of 38 monitoring stations, nine recorded air quality in the ‘severe plus’ category with AQI exceeding 450. Nineteen other stations recorded ‘severe’ air quality with AQI levels between 400 and 450.
The remaining stations recorded AQIs in the ‘very poor’ category. On November 22, the city’s 24-hour average AQI was 379 around 8 am and dropped slightly to 376 by around 9 am, as per the CPCB. Delhi’s air quality has remained hazardous for over 20 days.
On October 30, it first slipped into the ‘very poor’ category and stayed at the same level for 15 days.
It worsened further last Sunday as Delhi recorded ‘severe’ air quality and stayed so on Monday and Tuesday.
Meanwhile under the leadership of Palam-360 chief, Choudhary Surender Solanki, the “Gaon Dehat Bachao Yatra” has so far covered 225 villages of Delhi and will reach all 360 villages before the elections highlighting the growing pollution crisis in Delhi and the neglect of rural areas.
On Sunday, the yatra reached Chilla village in East Delhi, where Solanki received a warm welcome from the villagers. During this, he held an open discussion on the issues faced by the villagers.
The Khap leader said “There is neither clean water nor clean air left...Both the central and state governments are busy blaming each other, but no concrete solutions are in sight.”
He explained that the condition of Delhi’s villages has deteriorated significantly over the past 10-15 years and the environment has become unlivable. “Governments only offer assurances, but this time, nothing short of real solutions will be acceptable,” Solanki asserted.
Colour-coded fuel for vehicles
Transport department has mandated vehicle owners in the National Capital Territory to affix colour-coded stickers on their vehicles to help identify fuel types to combat rising pollution levels.
According to a public notice issued by the department, the directive is in line with the Supreme Court’s order dated August 12, 2018, and subsequent amendments to Rule 50 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989.
The vehicle owners in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi will now be required to install chromium-based hologram stickers, the notice read. The colour-coded stickers are designed to assist enforcement personnel in visually identifying a vehicle’s fuel type during road checks.
The rule applies to both new vehicles, effective from April 1, 2019, and old vehicles, registered before March 31, 2019. Vehicle owners must ensure the stickers are affixed on their windscreens to comply with legal requirements, it said.