For the third consecutive day, the air quality in India’s capital, New Delhi, along with Gurugram and Noida, remained in the “very poor” category, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 322 in Delhi and 324 in Noida on Monday morning, as reported by SAFAR-India. The AQI scale categorizes air quality as “good” between 0 and 50, “satisfactory” between 51 and 100, “moderate” between 101 and 200, “poor” between 201 and 300, “very poor” between 301 and 400, and “severe” between 401 and 450. On Sunday, New Delhi’s overall air quality was categorized as ‘very poor’ according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR)-India.
Despite the Delhi government’s implementation of a 15-point winter action plan aimed at mitigating the rising pollution levels, the air quality has continued to deteriorate. Delhi’s Environment Minister, Gopal Rai, made an appeal on Sunday for stricter regulations on buses using poor-quality diesel in the National Capital Region (NCR) areas of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. He also identified cars as a significant contributor to pollution and mentioned the government’s ‘Red Light on, Gaadi off’ campaign, which seeks to address this issue.
The air quality crisis in New Delhi, Gurugram, and Noida persists, with efforts such as the winter action plan and initiatives to curb vehicle emissions yet to yield significant improvements. Despite these measures, residents continue to grapple with poor air quality conditions, prompting calls for more stringent measures and greater regional cooperation to address this ongoing environmental challenge.
Post Your Comments