People living in the national capital and in states such as Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are more likely to contract COVID-19 due to prolonged exposure to high concentration of PM 2.5, according to a new pan-India study.
Over eight million deaths in 2021 were attributed to air pollution, affecting both children and adults alike.
He alleged that the BJP made people burst firecrackers on Diwali.
The CPCB said reduction in PM10 and PM2.5 levels primarily indicate depletion in combustion and industrial sources of pollution which are common to both fractions of particulate matter.
The neighbouring cities of Faridabad (469), Greater Noida (464), Ghaziabad (470), Gurgaon (472) also recorded 'severe' air pollution levels.
The residents of Delhi stand to lose 10 years of life expectancy if the current air pollution level persists.
Air quality in Delhi and its suburbs dropped to the severe category again on Wednesday morning, with smoke from post-harvest paddy straw burning in neighbouring states accounting for one-third of the air pollution in the national capital.
Acentral panel directed authorities to ban the plying of 4-wheeled diesel LMVs in Delhi and adjoining NCR districts and the entry of trucks into the capital.
Skies over Delhi hung heavy with smoke and its air quality inched towards "severe" category on Diwali night as people burst firecrackers in a blatant disregard to the government's ban against it, imposed amid an increase in the contribution from farm fires.
The Delhi government on Wednesday said the odd-even car rationing scheme will be implemented in the national capital after the Supreme Court reviews its effectiveness and issues an order.
In view of air pollution in the national capital, the December winter break of all schools has been rescheduled and it will be now from November 9 to November 18, a circular of the Delhi Directorate of Education stated on Wednesday.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that primary schools will be closed from Saturday in view of spike in pollution levels in the national capital.
Byrnihat in Meghalaya topped the list of most polluted cities in India in 2023, closely followed by Begusarai in Bihar and Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh, according to a report released on Wednesday.
The Delhi government's odd-even car rationing scheme to curb air pollution on Tuesday came under scrutiny by the Supreme Court which questioned its effectiveness and termed it "all optics".
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The 24-metre-high air purifier recorded a PM2.5 concentration of 642 micrograms per cubic metre at the inlet and 453 micrograms per cubic metre at the outlet.
According to the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), the air quality is considered to be in the emergency category if the PM2.5 and PM10 levels continue to be above 300 micrograms per cubic metre and 500 micrograms per cubic metre respectively for 48 hours or more.
Low temperature -- Delhi recorded a minimum of 13.5 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, the season's lowest so far -- allowed accumulation of pollutants, said Mahesh Palawat, vice president (meteorology and climate change), Skymet Weather.
Rediff Labs has taken the exposure of air pollution, burden due to air pollution and then disease due to air pollution in order to explain how India is affected by it and comparing it to global numbers.
'When you are travelling in Mumbai when the air quality is bad, you feel suffocated.' 'You may feel uncomfortable breathing Delhi air, but the level of discomfort is higher in Mumbai.'
Pollution levels skyrocketed by the hour in Delhi on Sunday, turning the air quality hazardous, which agencies consider unfit for inhalation even by healthier people.
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Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal inaugurated the 'country's first smog tower' at Connaught Place in New Delhi on Monday and said it will prove to be a milestone and many such structures can be installed in the city if the pilot project yields results.
There will be a blanket ban on the production, sale and use of all types of firecrackers in the national capital, including on Diwali, till January 1, 2023, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Wednesday.
The report, however, shows that Delhi's air quality improved by approximately 15 per cent from 2019 to 2020.
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.
The Rediff labs team tried to correlate vehicle density with air pollution.
The central government's Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi said a "significant improvement in air quality is not likely" owing to slow wind speed, particularly during night time, and contribution from farm fires.
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 national capital on Friday recorded a 24-hour average air quality index of 239. On Thursday, it was 315, the worst since February 12 when the AQI was 320.
Researchers found that India, along with China and Japan, were the three leading countries in Asia in terms of number of new cases and deaths, where they say cancer has become a more significant public health threat with 94 lakh new cases and 56 lakh deaths in 2019.
The green body's report said three of the world's largest nitrogen oxide air pollution emission hotspots that contribute to formation of PM2.5 and ozone are in India with one in the Delhi-NCR.
The Delhi government has been following the practice of banning all kinds of firecrackers for the last three years.
It also asked the governments of Punjab and Haryana to take immediate stringent actions to curb stubble burning and authorities in Delhi-NCR to strictly check biomass burning.
The air quality had turned 'severe' on Saturday evening with stubble burning accounting for 32 per cent of Delhi's PM2.5 pollution, but firecracker emissions and calm winds made the situation even worse.
Long-term exposure to chronically high PM2.5 levels weakens the ability of the lungs to fend off infections, therefore making people more susceptible to COVID-19, the scientists said.
Given the rising levels of pollution, air purifiers have now become a necessity. Manavi Kapur and Veer Arjun Singh check out some of the options in the market.
Areas in the National Capital Region -- Noida and Gurugram -- recorded an AQI of 529 and 478 respectively both in the highly toxic 'severe'.
The news may come as a relief to the Delhi government, whose odd-even traffic rule is set to be rolled out from January 1.
Air quality in the national capital deteriorated alarmingly a day after Diwali as pollution levels spiked more than five times higher than normal leaving many at the risk of respiratory problems.
