Delhi Pollution: AQI at 551, Air Turns 'Hazardous'; No Construction Allowed, Water Being Sprinkled

Delhi’s air quality turned ‘hazardous’ on Tuesday morning, recording an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 551. The deteriorating Air Quality Index (AQI) has triggered the Delhi government to ban all construction and demolition activities in the national capital.

It was already predicted that the air quality in the city will worsen from Tuesday because of calmer winds and other meteorological conditions. “Experts are predicting that wind speed will fall from November 1 and its direction will change,” Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai told a news conference on Sunday. “Based on that, it is being predicted that the AQI would go beyond 400 into the severe category.”

According to the government organisation, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered to be ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.

The Delhi Fire Service has been sprinkling water in as many as 13 hotspots in the city. On Sunday, at least 22 fire tenders were rushed to the identified pollution hotspots, including areas such as Narela, Anand Vihar, Mundka, Dwarka, Punjabi Bagh, RK Puram, Rohini, Bawana, Okhla, Jahangirpuri, Wazirpur, and Mayapuri.

Rai further said that pollution levels spiked in the national capital around this time mainly because of dust, bio-mass burning and vehicular emissions, change in the meteorological situation and air movement.

Rai said 586 teams had been formed to monitor construction works and that exemptions would be given to hospitals, railways, airports and other such public activities. He said 521 machines would sprinkle water across the city to settle dust while nearly 233 anti-smog guns would be deployed.

The AAP government has also been pushing for Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena’s approval for the “Red Light on Gaadi off” campaign, claiming that that such drives have reduced vehicular pollution in cities in India, the US and the UK.

The minister said a study by the Central Road Research Institute in 2019 showed that keeping the engine on at traffic signals can increase pollution levels by over nine per cent.

Another study by the Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) under the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas at the Bhikaji Cama Place traffic intersection showed that over 62 per cent people started switching off their vehicles after a similar campaign. Before the campaign, only 20 per cent of commuters switched off their vehicles at traffic intersections voluntarily, he said.

The city of about 20 million, the world’s most polluted capital, turns nearly unbreathable every winter as cold, heavy air traps construction dust, vehicle emissions and smoke from the burning of crop residues in the neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab ahead of the new crop season.

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