In an attempt to keep rising air pollution under control, authorities in Delhi have issued fresh restrictions on construction work and demolition activities.
The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), the Centre's air quality panel, has directed authorities in Delhi-NCR to ban all non-essential construction work in the region under Stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).
Delhi's 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 407 at 4 pm today.
An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'.
The pollution level in Delhi had entered the 'severe' category after November 4, when the AQI was 447, following which, the CAQM had directed the authorities to impose a ban on all construction and demolition activities in Delhi-NCR, except in essential projects.
Later, on November 14, the CAQM directed authorities to revoke the curbs enforced in Delhi-NCR under Stage III of GRAP, including a ban on non-essential construction activities.
However, in view of worsening air quality over the last few days, this ban has now been reintroduced.
The Delhi government has rolled back a contentious order denying fuel to 'end of life' cars - the term for petrol vehicles registered over 15 years ago and diesel vehicles more than 10 years.
India's demographic health survey 2019-21 reveals that 13 per cent of children were born prematurely, and 17 per cent with a low weight at birth, with air pollution contributing to the adverse birth outcomes.
The city recorded a minimum temperature of 25.2 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, with the weather office predicting light to moderate rain.
Cloud seeding is generally considered moderately effective, with studies and real-world programmes showing it can increase rainfall under the right conditions.
Paris has traded automotive routes for bike lanes, adding green spaces and eliminating 50,000 parking spaces.
................................ Advertisement ................................
Opinion | Why Indians Have Just Given Up On Air Pollution CrisisTanushree Ganguly
Friday December 20, 2024While some may argue that people in Delhi are now more aware of air pollution than they were a decade back, my rebuttal would be that awareness does not mean that people are concerned.
Opinion | You Must Outrage Over Filthy Air More Than Once A YearJyoti Pande Lavakare
Tuesday December 10, 2024Delhi welcomed us with monsoon rains and mangos. We were home. Fast forward a couple of years, in the winter of 2012, I found myself in denial about something other parents, mostly expats, were calling toxic air.
Opinion | Delhi's Air Pollution Situation Is Like A Bad MarriageNishtha Gautam
Friday November 22, 2024On a good day, such as today, the AQI reading in Delhi is 407. We are jubilant at the sickly sunshine trickling through the slightly dissipated smog. At least its not 1600.
दिवाली... पराली... सियासी जुगाली!Ashwini kumar
Monday November 18, 2024दिल्ली-एनसीआर में प्रदूषण का समाधान तो आज तक मिला नहीं. हर साल चिंतित होकर हम-आप सांसों की तकलीफ के साथ-साथ दिल और ब्लड प्रेशर के मरीज भी क्यों बनें?
घर में कैद बुजुर्ग और हांफते लोग, दिल्ली की सांसों में घुला ये कैसा रोग?Nidhi Kulpati
Friday November 08, 2024हमारी हवा जहरीली हो रही है. गुरुवार की शाम को जब मैं इस मुद्दे पर लिखने बैठी तो AQI लगातार 400 पार जाकर दम घोंट रहा था. बहुत लोगों को यह मामला बोरिंग लगे, लेकिन जब आप अपने साथ काम करने वालों को खांसते-हांफते देखते-सुनते हैं, तो चिंता होने लगती है. सुबह उठते ही दरवाजे खिड़कियां खोलने के लिए डॉक्टर मना कर रहे हैं. बड़े बुजुर्गों के लिए तो मॉर्निंग वॉक बाहर की दुनिया से सीधे संपर्क का ज़रिया है, लेकिन डॉक्टर इसकी भी मनाही कर रहे हैं.