NEW DELHI: Sixteen of Delhi’s 44 air quality monitoring stations recorded pollution levels in the ‘poor’ category on Monday, while the city’s overall AQI stood at 184, in the ‘moderate’ category.
Twenty-seven stations recorded ‘moderate’ air quality, and one was in the ‘satisfactory’ category, according to Central Pollution Control Board data. Dwarka Sector 8 recorded the day’s highest AQI at 278, followed by Mundka at 268.
The air quality early warning system said the air quality is likely to remain in the ‘moderate’ to ‘poor’ category in the coming week.
Satellites detected 36 stubble-burning events in the six study states on October 5, including five in Punjab, four in Uttar Pradesh, three in Rajasthan and 24 in Madhya Pradesh. No events were detected in Haryana, Delhi or Uttarakhand, according to the ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute.
A total of 254 crop-residue burning events were detected across the six states between September 15 and October 5, the institute said.
As a preventive measure, The CAQM has deployed its flying squads in 34 districts across Haryana and Punjab to prevent paddy stubble burning incidents, officials said on Monday. Flying squads will remain deployed from October to November and will provide extensive field-level monitoring across the two states during the paddy harvesting period, they said.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has also deployed a specialised fleet of 28 mobile anti-smog guns (ASGs) and 167 water sprinklers as part of its winter action plan, officials said on Monday.
As the capital braces for its peak-pollution season, the civic body has also installed 20 ASGs at key waste-processing facilities, including waste-to-energy plants, C&D (construction and demolition) waste plants, and dumpsites, besides 15 ASGs on high-rise municipal buildings to suppress airborne dust.
According to officials, besides mist spraying, the MCD is focusing on road repairs to target microdust emissions caused by damaged street surfaces.
To enforce anti-pollution measures at ground level, 623 officers have been assigned to joint enforcement teams operating across all 12 zones and 250 wards in the city.