New Delhi: A day after the national capital recorded the worst AQI in the country, Delhi residents woke up to ‘severe’ air quality on Thursday morning, with dense fog blanketing the NCR, reducing visibility. On Wednesday, the Air Quality Index (AQI) turned ‘severe’ for the first time this season, even as the central pollution watchdog attributed the deterioration to an “unprecedentedly dense” fog and described it as an “episodic event”.
Visibility at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport dropped to 500 meters till 6:30 am, down from 800 meters an hour earlier. Low visibility is expected to impact flights to and from Delhi, with possible delays or changes to schedules in place to manage conditions.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), several areas in the capital region recorded an AQI of over 450. Anand Vihar, Ashok Vihar, Bawana, Dwarka, Jahangirpuri, Mundka, Najafgarh, Lajpat Nagar, Patparganj, Punjabi Bagh, RK Puram, Rohini, Vivek Vihar, and Wazirpur are among several areas in Delhi where the average AQI was recorded in the ‘severe’ category, exceeding 450, at 6 am.
The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), however, opted not to enforce Stage 3 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), which includes measures like halting in-person classes for primary schools and imposing a blanket ban on construction activities.
Will Schools Be Closed?
As air quality in Delhi continues to worsen, with hazardous levels of pollution choking the national capital, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called for the urgent closure of all schools up to Class 5. On Wednesday, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva addressed a press conference, urging the Delhi government to take swift action to protect children from the harmful effects of the city’s toxic air.
Sachdeva, speaking on behalf of his party, expressed concern over the alarming levels of pollution in Delhi and its surrounding regions. He highlighted that both government and private schools should immediately shut down for the safety of children, who are particularly vulnerable to air pollution. “The pollution levels in Delhi have reached hazardous levels. With PM 2.5 concentrations crossing 400 and PM 10 levels surpassing 1,000, it is clear that immediate action is required,” Sachdeva said.
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