Delhiites woke up on Thursday to a thick envelope of smog as air quality in the national capital and in adjoining regions, dipped into severe category again.
Delhi's air quality deteriorated to the 'severe' category, prompting the implementation of Stage-IV GRAP measures and hybrid classes for schools.
The overall Air Quality Index was recorded at 231 on Sunday which falls in 'poor' category.
Delhi's 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 248 on Saturday.
According to SAFAR, both stubble burning in surrounding states of Delhi and firecrackers are causing deterioration of air quality in the national capital.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath asserted that Uttar Pradesh enjoys a clean environment, unlike Delhi, which he likened to a 'gas chamber' due to its pollution levels.
The air quality in Delhi remained poor Sunday with drop in wind speed even as authorities predicted further fall in air quality index of the national capital in the coming days.
General insurance companies are likely to see a surge in demand for health insurance in the coming months due to falling air quality in the country. The health insurance segment has registered a strong growth after the pandemic due to higher awareness. In the first half of financial year 2023-24, the segment grew by 24.4 per cent to Rs 54,713.52 crore from Rs 43,981.54 crore in H1FY23, driving growth of the non-life insurance industry.
The pollution board said that the situation will improve further by Sunday if favourable conditions prevail.
The air quality in the national capital remained poor for the sixth consecutive day on Monday with stubble burning accounting for seven per cent of the capital's PM2.5 pollution.
Interest in green living is rising, with clean air and open spaces becoming key selling points for residential projects, particularly as Indian cities struggle with deteriorating air quality.
The fourth T20I between India and South Africa in Lucknow was called off without a ball being bowled on Wednesday, as dense fog and worsening air quality rendered playing conditions unsafe at the Ekana stadium.
An improvement in the wind speed November 21 onwards might bring air pollution levels down.
A thick layer of toxic smog enveloped the national capital on Saturday as air quality deteriorated sharply, prompting the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to invoke the strictest curbs under Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across Delhi-NCR.
A thin layer of toxic haze hung over Delhi in the morning and the overall air quality index stood at 313 at 9 am. It continued its upward trend and was recorded at 337 at 1 pm.
The capital witnessed a clear morning on Friday with the minimum temperature settling a notch below normal at 14.6 degrees Celsius.
On Thursday, the overall AQI in Delhi was 312 around 8:30 in the morning.
Green think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said the ongoing smog episode is a public health emergency.
The Delhi High Court has directed the GST Council to consider lowering or abolishing the goods and services tax on air purifiers, citing worsening air quality in the national capital. The court has asked the council to meet at the earliest, even via video conference if necessary, to address the issue.
The overall air quality index was recorded at 426 which falls in the 'severe' category, according to data by the Central Pollution Control Board.
'If a common man wants to buy an air purifier for Rs 10,000, then he will have to shell out Rs 11,800 with 18 percent GST.' 'If he is charged GST at 5 percent the same air purifier will cost Rs 10,500.' 'This saves a one time amount of Rs 1,300 -- and that too just to breathe clean air.'
The smog reduced the visibility to merely 300 meters in the morning affecting traffic, an official of the India Meteorological Department said.
Experts said while meteorological conditions were "moderately" favourable for dispersion of pollutants, a "very high" number of farm fires in Punjab was the primary reason for "severe" air quality.
The United States embassy's pollution monitor recorded 'hazardous' air quality with the index scoring an alarming 878, which the mission considers 'beyond its air quality index' (AQI), which ends at 500.
Builders in the city must engage only the vehicles fitted with a tracking system for the transportation of construction materials, the guidelines said.
Delhi's overall air quality index (AQI) stood at 463 at 11.30 am, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR).
The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to consider directing schools in Delhi-NCR to postpone open air sports competitions planned in November and December to 'safer months' keeping in mind air pollution levels.
The city's overall air quality index stood at 306 on Friday.
Lahore, Pakistan, has once again been ranked as the world's most polluted city, with hazardous smog levels far exceeding WHO guidelines. The city is battling a toxic mix of vehicular emissions, industrial pollution, and crop residue burning.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board's mobile application SAMEER, the city recorded an air quality index of 168, which falls in the 'moderate' category, much better than Monday's AQI of 221, which falls in the 'poor' category.
Fuel pumps are not dispensing fuel to vehicles without valid PUC certificates, and this is being enforced with the help of automatic number plate reader cameras, voice alerts at pumps, and police support.
"The overall Delhi's Air Quality Index is in the very poor category with few Delhi locations entering at higher zone but that will be short lived. This is mainly because the extremely calm local surface winds which were prevailing yesterday are likely to increase slightly and may further pick-up by Oct 26," SAFAR said.
Other Graded Response Action Plan measures like ban on diesel generators, hot mix plants, stone crushers and brick kilns, however, continue to remain in place.
The spurt in pollutants was caused by a combination of meteorological factors including a drop in temperature, wind speed and mixing height, a layer where air and particulates float, the Central Pollution Control Board said.
The eight areas that recorded 'severe' air quality Saturday are Anand Vihar, Dwarka Sector 8, Narela, Punjabi Bagh, Bawana, Mundaka, Vivek Vihar and Rohini.
The Bombay High Court criticized the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for its lack of action in addressing air pollution in Mumbai, questioning the approval of numerous large construction projects and urging preventive measures.
Pollution levels were inching towards 'severe plus emergency' category due to a change in wind direction and rampant stubble burning in neighbouring states
The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has ordered the shutdown of 19 ready mix concrete plants in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region for violating environmental guidelines and contributing to deteriorating air quality levels.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reports that ash clouds from volcanic activity in Ethiopia, which impacted flight operations in India, are drifting towards China and will move away from India by 7.30 pm on Tuesday.
The central government's Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi said a significant increase in the number of "fire points" was observed over Punjab (around 3,000), Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, which is likely to impact the air quality of Delhi-NCR and other parts of northwest India.
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