Even on Saturday morning, pollution in Delhi was reported at very dangerous levels. More than 10 stations in Delhi recorded AQI 400+ at 7 am. AQI reached the highest at 445 in Jahangirpuri.
In view of the pollution, Chief Minister Atishi announced the change in timings for government offices. Central government offices will function from 9 am to 5:30 pm, Delhi government offices from 10 am to 6:30 pm and MCD offices from 8:30 am to 5 pm.
Online classes in all primary (up to standard 5) schools in Delhi were announced on Friday. Now it has been decided to make masks mandatory for schools from class 6 to 12 as well.
The government has appealed to people not to drive their vehicles. For this, 106 additional cluster buses and 60 more metro trips have been extended. The Air Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has also banned buses from NCR i.e. Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan from reaching Delhi.
6 pictures of pollution in Delhi
An AQI of 436 was recorded near Delhi's Anand Vihar station at 7 am on Saturday.
This picture is near Akshardham temple in Delhi. People had to face difficulty in driving due to fog here.
An attempt was made to reduce pollution with smog guns on the duty route on Saturday morning.
Amidst the pollution in Delhi, people came to the garden to do yoga on Saturday morning.
Along with Delhi, Agra also recorded pollution above 400.
Due to pollution, toxic foam is still visible in the water of Yamuna in Delhi.
Ban on construction, vandalism, ban on diesel vehicles in Delhi-NCR
- Construction, mining and demolition will be banned in Delhi-NCR.
- BS-3 Petrol and BS-4 Diesel 4 wheelers will not run in Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar. A fine of 20 thousand rupees has been imposed on violation.
- Except BS-3 diesel emergency vehicles, all medium goods vehicles of this category will be banned in Delhi.
- Apart from this, measures like increasing the frequency of cleaning with machines and sprinkling of water will be taken before peak hours on heavily trafficked routes.
- All restrictions and measures will come into effect on November 15 at 8 am. This is being implemented under the third phase of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).
2 satellite images of pollution in Delhi
American scientist Hiren Jethwa shared satellite images of Delhi on November 14. Dense fog is being seen in Delhi. Hiren is an aerosol remote sensing scientist at Morgan State University in the US. NASA has also shared images of Hiren.
What's next: Very dense fog will prevail over UP, Punjab, Himachal A fog alert has been declared in Punjab-Chandigarh. There is a dense fog alert for two days in Rajasthan. Very dense fog will prevail over UP and Punjab till November 15 and Himachal till November 18 during night and morning hours. Haryana, West Bengal, Sikkim, Bihar, Jharkhand are likely to experience fog till November 16.
A graded action plan was implemented to tackle pollution in Delhi To control the pollution in the capital, the level of pollution has been divided into 4 categories. Steps are fixed for each level. It is called Graded Action Plan or GRAP. Under its 4 categories, the government imposes restrictions and issues measures to reduce pollution.
- GRAP-1: Poor (AQI 201-300)
- GRAP-2: Very Poor (AQI 301-400)
- GRAP-3: Severe (AQI 401 to 450)
- GRAP-4: Very severe (AQI more than 450)
The Delhi government had said – it will not impose restrictions Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai had said on Thursday morning, 'GRAP-3 ban will not be implemented.' Regarding this, BJP state president Virendra Sachdeva said that due to the inaction of the Atishi government, the pollution situation has become worse than the surrounding areas of Delhi. Areas like Rajpath also have AQI above 450. He said – People of Delhi want Gopal Rai to leave his post.
On this, Gopal Rai said that 35% contribution to Delhi's bad air is from BJP-ruled Haryana and NCR districts of Uttar Pradesh.
GRAP-1 was implemented in Delhi on 14 October GRAP-1 was implemented in Delhi NCR on 14 October after Delhi's Air Quality Index crossed 200. Under this, use of coal and wood is prohibited in hotels and restaurants. The Commission of Air Quality Management has directed agencies to strictly monitor the operation of old petrol and diesel vehicles (BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel).
The commission has also asked agencies to increase the use of anti-smog guns, water sprinklers and dust repellent techniques in road construction, renovation projects and maintenance activities.
What is AQI and why are high levels dangerous? AQI is a type of thermometer. It works to measure pollution rather than just temperature. Through this scale, the amount of CO (Carbon Dioxide), Ozone, NO2 (Nitrogen Dioxide), PM 2.5 (Particulate Matter) and PM 10 pollutants present in the air is checked and shown in readings ranging from zero to 500.
The higher the amount of pollutants in the air, the higher the AQI level. And the higher the AQI, the more dangerous the air. Although an AQI between 200 and 300 is also considered bad, the situation is such that it has gone above 300 in many cities in Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. This increasing AQI is not just a number. This is also a sign of danger of upcoming diseases.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
