Delhi air quality Updates: AQI reaches in ‘severe’ category; pollution monitoring centres shut in Noida, Faridabad

Delhi's maximum temperature, on Tuesday, was recorded three notches below normal at 25.9 degrees Celsius, the weather office said on Tuesday. The minimum temperature settled a notch below normal at 12 degrees Celsius on a cold morning in the national capital.

The relative humidity stood at 97 per cent at 8.30 am and 70 per cent at 5.30 pm, according to India Meteorological Department data.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari emphasised the steps taken by the Centre to curb stubble burning in neighbouring states of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. He expressed confidence that over time, stubble would cease to be a problem as its value increases, leading to the creation of a robust market for stubble. (Read full story here)

Delhi Labour Minister Raaj Kumar Anand, on Tuesday, said that the diesel vehicles entering Delhi from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are contributing to the air pollution of the national capital.

Delhi Labour Minister Raaj Kumar Anand, on Tuesday, flagged that there has been no curb on the entry of diesel vehicle into Delhi under GRAP Stage 4 guidelines.

Restrictions under GRAP Stage IV, including a ban on all construction work and the entry of polluting trucks into the national capital, kicked in earlier this month after the city's air quality plummeted to to the 'Severe Plus' (AQI above 450) category.

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi have temporarily shifted to Jaipur as Delhi's air pollution level spiked on Tuesday after Diwali. Air quality in parts of the national capital continued in 'Severe' category on Tuesday morning as the city woke up once again to smog that limited visibility.

On Tuesday Sonia Gandhi visited Shanti Van memorial along with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge to pay tribute to India's first Prime Minister, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, on his birth anniversary. (Read full story here)

The side-effects poor air quality triggers infectiosn quickly, but it takes lot more time for the side-effects to reverse when air quality improves, according to Dr Sumit Ray, medical director and critical care head at Holy Family Hospital.

He said there has been no decline in the number of patients coming to the OPD with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and bronchitis.

"The worsening air quality triggers infections quickly but the results of the improvement take time to show," Ray said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, along with mother Sonia Gandhi and K Venugopal reached Jaipur on Tuesday. Their arrival is a part of private visit to escape Delhi's air pollution. 

"It is a private visit. There is air pollution in Delhi, that’s why,” Venugopal said in Hindi when reporters at the airport asked him about the reason for Sonia Gandhi’s visit to poll-bound Rajasthan.

Delhi's air pollution deteriorated post Diwali on Monday. National capital's AQI was recorded at 397 at 4 pm on Tuesday, worsening from 358 on Monday and 218 on Sunday.

Air pollution levels hit the severe category (AQI above 400) at many places within the city, including ITO (427), RK Puram (422), Punjabi Bagh (423), Nehru Nagar (450), Anand Vihar (439) and Nehru Nagar (450).

Cases of respiratory issues, eye irritation, are likely to increase in Delhi as the city witnesses further decline in its air quality post Diwali celebration on Sunday.

City hospitals continue to report a rise in the number of patients visiting hospitals for respiratory issues, prolonged coughing, throat infections and eye irritation, reported PTI.

In the ongoing blame game for Delhi's air pollution, Delhi BJP president Virendraa Sachdeva accused Gopal Rai of blaming the BJP for pollution in the national capital. He also said that he sees no hope in the situation and “putting blame and levelling allegations is the nature of AAP.”

On being asked about the rampant air pollution in north Indian states, NITI Aayog member VK Paul said that the challenges of low AQI are “multifactoral". 

"Governments should work on this together, they are working on it. But we have to be aware that air pollution causes lung issues, cancer issues," he added.

Punjab reported 1,776 cases of stubble burning on Tuesday. With this, the total number of farm fires reached to 28,117 while air quality indices in Haryana and the border state were in 'poor' and 'very poor' categories.

Amid the increasing air pollution in Delhi post Diwali, BJP MP Gautam Gambhir said that the discussion around air pollution should not be done only during Diwali but all around the year. 

"In the last 9 years, no work was done on dust pollution, no vacuum cleaners or sprinkling machines were brought, and no artificial rain was done. 70% of children are on Nebulizers in Delhi," Gambhir told ANI.

Air Quality Index (AQI) monitoring centers in Noida and Gaziabad have been non-operational for last 2-3 days, reported India Today.  Notably, the defunct AQI monitoring centres will be a major obstruction in monitoring the air quality of the area.

In his video shared on social media platform X, BJP's Poonawalla lashed out at the Aam Aadmi Party for blaming Diwali and Hindus for severe AQI in the national capital. 

“2600 incidents of stubble burning in Punjab in 2 days! Despite SC warnings. How shameless is AAP to still guilt trip Hindus despite overwhelming facts suggesting contrary,” wrote Poonawalla on X.

National capital Delhi's air quality index deteriorated after Diwali, as the residents of Delhi flouted Supreme Court's firecracker ban order. On Tuesday. the national capital Delhi recorded Air Quality Index (AQI) at 361, which is considered 'Severe'. Till Monday it was recorded at ‘Severe Plus’ category.

Despite the Supreme Court's ban on firecrackers to mitigate pollution, people in several parts of the national capital flouted the ban by bursting fireworks, in-turn nullifying effects of the recent rain in Delhi. (Read full story)

BJP's Shehzad Poonawalla attacked Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on air pollution issue and accused his government of targeting only Hindus, Diwali, Centre, Haryana for pollution. 

He also said that the Delhi CM never talked about the main reason behind pollution, ie stubble burning in Punjab. 

"AAP will blame Hindus, Diwali, Centre, Haryana,UP but is silent on Punjab Parali. Silent on the internal causes of Delhi's pollution. Thank you, Kejriwal, for making Delhi a gas chamber," he added.

Delhi Environment Minister, Gopal Rai, accused Bhartiya Janata Party leaders of promoting the bursting of firecrackers on Diwali. He said that the firecrackers on Diwali which led to an increase in pollution in the city.

"BJP is trying to hide its mistakes. I have heard the statements of many BJP leaders recently and all of them are trying to hush up their statements in different ways. There was no festival yesterday, so why were the firecrackers bursting yesterday? Where did they came from? A BJP leader said that the AAP government failed to stop firecrackers. You have Delhi Police. SC had imposed the ban, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana Police is in your hands, then who has failed? This means you wanted crackers to be burst," said Gopal Rai.

There has been a significant jump in Diwali air pollution in 11 state capitals. However, Delhi witnessed the largest spike in air pollution post Diwali. 

The government's National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) tracker analysed PM 2.5 (fine particulate matter) data for 11 capital cities--Bangalore, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Mumbai and Patna--for the day before Diwali, the day of Diwali and the day after Diwali (till 12 pm) for the years 2022 and 2023.

The highest spike (recorded at 15-minute intervals) was seen in the national capital Delhi. It was at 999.5 ug/m3 at Pusa on November 13 at 1:30 am.

Delhi's Environment Minister Gopal Rai, on Tuesday, said people associated with the BJP are offering “absurd” justifications for supporting firecracke bursting during Diwali. The fire cracker bursting resulted in a sharp spike in pollution levels in the national capital.

"The BJP alleges that the AAP government in Delhi failed to curb firecracker bursting. However, it's the BJP-controlled police in Delhi, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh that failed to prevent firecracker burning during Diwali, not the Delhi government," Rai told PTI.

Delhi air quality LIVE updates: Air quality in parts of the national capital continued in 'Severe' category on Tuesday morning as the city woke up once again to smog that limited visibility. Overall AQI stood at 373. As per SAFAr, AQI recorded at Delhi airport was 449, Delhi University 407.

 Delhi air quality LIVE updates:Air quality in parts of the national capital continued in 'Severe' category on Tuesday morning as the city woke up once again to smog that limited visibility.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 9 am today in Delhi was at 361, which is considered 'Severe'.

At 6 am the AQI recorded at RK Puram was 417, Punjabi Bagh (410) ITO (430) Jahangirpuri (428), Anand Vihar (355), Ashok Vihar (355), IGI Airport T3 (426) and Rohini (417).

The effects of the recent rain in the national capital wore off on Monday when the city recorded an AQI of 358 at 4 pm (an average of the past 24 hours), which falls under 'Very Poor' category after Diwali Sunday night. The air quality soon dropped to 'Severe' category later in the afternoon, after which a haze engulfed the city making the visibility short.

Delhi air quality LIVE updates: On pollution in Delhi, BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla says, "Once again, Delhi has become a gas chamber today... Arvind Kejriwal used to blame stubble burning in Punjab as the main reason in 2018... Nearly 2600 cases of stubble burning have occurred in Punjab in the last two days. What did the AAP government do in Punjab to stop this?... The main reasons for pollution in Delhi are internal... What was done for vehicular pollution and to control dust?...No attention was given towards the reasons for pollution inside Delhi..."

Delhi air quality LIVE updates: Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai has accused Bharatiya Janata Party leaders of promoting the bursting of firecrackers on Diwali which led to an increase in pollution in the city.

"BJP is trying to hide its mistakes. I have heard the statements of many BJP leaders recently and all of them are trying to hush up their statements in different ways. There was no festival yesterday, so why were the firecrackers bursting yesterday? Where did they came from? A BJP leader said that the AAP government failed to stop firecrackers. You have Delhi Police. SC had imposed the ban, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana Police is in your hands, then who has failed? This means you wanted crackers to be burst," Gopal Rai said.

Delhi air quality LIVE updates: Gopal Rai explains that the smog situation in Delhi has developed due to the expected decrease in wind speed after Diwali and the increase in pollution levels after firecrackers were burst.

The India Meteorological Department has predicted rainfall in the southern states this week. The weather forecasting agency said that low pressure is likely to form over the Southeast Bay of Bengal around Tuesday (that is 14 November). It is likely to move west-northwestwards and intensify into a depression over the Bay of Bengal on 16th November, the IMD said.

Delhi air quality LIVE updates: According to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, the average Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi's IGI recorded AQI at 425, ITO recorded 421 AQI.

Delhi air quality LIVE updates: The Delhi government is mulling use of artificial rain through cloud seeding this month to combat the air pollution crisis in the national capital. Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai also held a meeting with scientists from IIT-Kanpur last week to discuss the proposal on artificial rains. Read more here

Delhi air quality LIVE updates: As per SAFAR data at 9:20 am, the overall AQI stands at 373

Delhi air quality LIVE updates: Noise levels during Diwali celebrations in several parts of Mumbai exceeded readings of last year, and firecrackers were burst beyond the 10pm deadline set by the courts, an NGO specialising in noise pollution awareness said on Monday. Diwali was celebrated with traditional pomp and fervour, marked with lights and firecrackers, across the nation on Sunday. The maximum noise level recorded in Mumbai during celebrations this year was 117 decibels, up from the top reading of 109.1 decibels last year, Awaaz Foundation said.

Delhi air quality LIVE updates: Amid poor air quality indices across various metropolitan cities in India, West Bengal Pollution Control Board Chairman Kalyan Rudra said that Kolkata stands in a much better position compared to not just Delhi but even Mumbai.

"The air quality is far better than even Mumbai; forget about Delhi. In the metropolitan cities (Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai), Chennai having sea-side location, has the advantage of land breeze and sea breeze, Chennai is little better (AQI) than Kolkata. But compared to Delhi and Mumbai, Kolkata is far better," Kalyan Rudra said, speaking to ANI on Monday.

Rudra said that while PM 2.5 was 74 microgram average, the PM 10 average was 136.

"We have dynamic data. We are monitoring it (air quality) at 175 locations, all over West Bengal. PM 2.5 is 74 micrograms average and minimum was 43 and maximum was 112. The PM10 average was 136, while 77 is the mimimum and 207 was the maximum," he said.

Delhi air quality LIVE updates: As per CPCB data at 7 am,

AQI in Dwarka Sector-8: 404

AQI in ITO: 430

AQI in Jahangirpuri: 428

AQI in Narela: 418

AQI in RK Puram: 417

AQI in Rohini: 417

AQI in Wazirpur: 411

As per SAFAR data at 7 am,

AQI in Noida: 406

AQI in Gurugram: 391

AQI in Pusa: 572

AQI in Mathura road: 372

AQI in Delhi University: 413

AQI in IIT Delhi: 488

AQI in Lodhi road: 440

AQI in Airport T3: 469

AQI in Dhirpur: 355

Delhi air quality LIVE updates: Amid high pollution levels in the national capital, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has doubled the charges for parking sites managed by it to discourage people from using private vehicles. There are a total of 91 parking sites in the NDMC area. While 41 of these are managed by the NDMC, the maintenance of others has been outsourced to other agencies.

"Keeping in view the climatic conditions, the parking fees (off road/on road) has been enhanced to twice the existing (amount) to discourage private transport for the parking managed by NDMC through its own staff till 31st January 2024," an official notification stated.

Delhi air quality LIVE updates: In a press conference, after the pollution review meeting, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said, "Anti-pollution measures under GRAP IV regulations will remain enforced in Delhi until the next order of CAQM (Commission for Air Quality Management). Under this, the ban on BS-III petrol vehicles and BS-IV diesel vehicles will remain. All trucks, except those carrying essential goods and connected to essential services and CNG & electric trucks, will not be allowed to enter Delhi."

Delhi air quality LIVE Updates: With Delhi's air pollution deteriorating, authorities of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, a government hospital in the city, have decided to establish a special Out-Patient Department (OPD) for pollution-related illnesses.

"We have decided that a special OPD will run for pollution-related illnesses where comprehensive care can be given to the patients and will include a multi-departmental clinic because pollution affects multiple organs," said Dr Ajay Shukla, Director of RML Hospital.