Delhi air pollution: National capital’s air quality plunges to ’hazardous’ levels with AQI soaring to 526

Delhi on Wednesday experienced a severe environmental crisis, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) reaching hazardous levels across various areas. The following are the AQI readings for different locations in the city

Alipur: 490

Anand Lok: 504

Anand Prabat: 376

Anand Vihar: 591

Ashok Vihar Phase 1: 522

Ashok Vihar Phase 2: 527

Ashok Vihar Phases 3 and 4: 634

Delhi Cantt: 258

Dwarka Sector 11: 521

Dwarka Sector 23: 390

Greater Kailash II: 256

GTB Nagar: 617

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Delhi Police carried out vehicle checks on Tuesday night to ensure compliance with Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), which aims to curb the worsening air pollution in the city. Under Stage IV, a ban has been imposed on the operation of Delhi-registered BS-IV and older diesel-operated medium goods vehicles (MGVs) and heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), with exceptions made only for those involved in essential services.

This emergency measure has been in effect since 8:00 a.m. on November 18in response to the deteriorating air quality in Delhi and the surrounding National Capital Region (NCR). The ban is part of broader efforts to reduce vehicular emissions and mitigate the hazardous pollution levels impacting residents' health.

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Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Tuesday wrote to Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav, urging him to convene an emergency meeting with the Delhi Government, IIT Kanpur, and central government departments such as the DGCA, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), and Ministry of Defence to discuss the immediate implementation of cloud seeding as an emergency measure.

Monitoring stations in Alipur, Anand Vihar, Ashok Vihar, Bawana, Dwarka Sector 8, IHBAS, Dilshad Garden, Jahangirpuri, Major Dhyan Chand Stadium, Mandir Marg, Mundka, Najafgarh, Narela, Nehru Nagar, Patparganj, Punjabi Bagh, Rohini, Siri Fort, and Wazirpur reported AQI levels in the "severe plus" category.

The Delhi government directed all its hospitals to constitute teams of specialists for patients with respiratory ailments due to the severe air pollution, officials said.

The Delhi Health Department has instructed hospitals to closely monitor and report respiratory ailments, including outpatient (OPD) and inpatient (IPD) cases, daily in response to the hazardous air quality. Hospitals have been asked to flag any unusual increase in the number of cases promptly.

According to the Centre's Decision Support System (DSS) for Air Quality Management, vehicular emissions accounted for approximately 16% of Delhi's pollution on Tuesday. However, data regarding the contribution of stubble burning to the pollution levels was not provided for the second consecutive day. This lack of data underscores the challenges in tracking the full extent of pollution sources and managing the crisis effectively.

(With inputs from ANI)