New Delhi: While Delhi dropped to the ‘poor’ category yesterday, the AQI on Thursday was 121, categorizing it as ‘Moderate.’ These improvements can be attributed to light drizzle expected in the next few days, so no drastic changes in AQI are observed. However, these sources suggest that winter air pollution may be on the rise once more as the season begins.
Delhi’s Environment Minister Gopal Rai unveiled a winter action plan of 21 points for purging the city of the Modi pest air pollution. Some of the measures contained in the plan include the use of UAVs in surveillance of polluted areas and an anti-dust crusade that will see the use of road scrubbers in controlling dust on the roads.
A few of these are ‘Fire Cracker prohibition during the festal time” and ‘Formation of a special team of six members for the pollution control.” Realizing the problems of Diwali and stubble burning, the Delhi government is also planning for artificial rains between November 1 to 15 when the pollution level rises up.
In the recent past there has been a tendency for irregularity of rainfall, which has, in equal measure, influenced the poor air quality. Specifically, AQI rose from 116 on September 21 to 197 on September 24, which shows a worsening of the situation. Mahesh Palawat, vice president at Skymet Meteorology, said pollution levels are increasing slightly because pollutants continue to gather in the capital. He also drew focus to the effect of dry soil on dust rate during the daytime, thereby deepening the pollution problem.
While Delhi explores those specific environmental troubles, the government’s contingency measures will definitely play a big role in fighting air pollution and preserving the health of the inhabitants.
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