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.
Delhi government mandates 50% work from home for offices and private establishments under GRAP stage three due to severe air pollution. Essential services are exempted.
Delhiites continued to breathe toxic air on Tuesday as the air quality edged closer to the severe zone in some areas.
Delhi's air quality plummeted to alarming levels on Tuesday after 24 days, with many areas witnessing a significant spike in pollution despite the strictest measures, including a ban on construction activities and the entry of trucks into the city, coming into force.
As firefighters toiled to douse a massive fire at a private neonatal hospital in New Delhi on Saturday night, many parents whose newborns were admitted to the facility had no clue what was going on.
The officials of the Delhi Fire Services said the blaze broke out at the children's hospital in Shahdara on Saturday night.
"Allah ko pyaari ho gayi meri beti," said Ansaar, whose 11-day-old daughter was among the seven newborns killed in a blaze at a childcare hospital.
The capital witnessed a clear morning on Friday with the minimum temperature settling a notch below normal at 14.6 degrees Celsius.
Areas in the National Capital Region -- Noida and Gurugram -- recorded an AQI of 529 and 478 respectively both in the highly toxic 'severe'.
The charges of "procedural lapses indicating corruption in land related matters" against the deputy secretary were from his tenure as Narela SDM, they said.
The visuals on social media also showed huge traffic on the National Highway-24 and Sarai Kale Khan where vehicles were crawling. Water from the overflowing Yamuna river reached ITO, a key route to commute from east Delhi to central Delhi and Connaught Place.
'Initially I was fearing that I may come in contact with the virus but when I reached the centre I gained confidence'
It has also written to Twitter to ascertain the identities behind handles through which such posts and rumours were shared, they said.
Traffic was severely affected due to heavy rains.
22 of the 37 air quality monitoring stations across Delhi recorded the air quality in the severe category on Thursday morning.
The neighbouring cities of Faridabad (469), Greater Noida (464), Ghaziabad (470), Gurgaon (472) also recorded 'severe' air pollution levels.
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.
Delhi Police has begun an inquiry after a photograph showing controversial godwoman Radhe Maa sitting on the station house officer's chair went viral.
A woman Jet Airways employee was allegedly trying to smuggle out foreign currency worth over Rs 3 crore.
The dip in the air quality can be attributed to low wind speed and temperatures which allowed accumulation of pollutants.
An unidentified gunman opened fire at Bharatiya Janata Party legislator from Shahdara, Jeetendra Singh Shunty, outside his house in east Delhi's Vivek Vihar area early Wednesday morning, police said.
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 overall AQI deteriorated further and touched the 268 mark, which falls in the poor category.
Delhi recorded an air quality index of 315 at 11:10 am. The last time the air quality hit such a poor level was in February.
The eight areas that recorded 'severe' air quality Saturday are Anand Vihar, Dwarka Sector 8, Narela, Punjabi Bagh, Bawana, Mundaka, Vivek Vihar and Rohini.
Rishabh, 17, of New Seemapuri, succumbed to the vector-borne disease on Thursday at the Max super-speciality hospital in Ghaziabad.
It is believed that the crop residue burning in the nearby states of Punjab and Haryana are contributing to polluting the air.
Candidates appearing for the exam in Kolkata were seen standing in queues while abiding by the social distancing norms.
Drones are being used for carrying out a host of tasks like surveillance to ensure that people are maintaining social distancing, spreading awareness about COVID-19 in densely populated areas, spraying disinfectants and checking people's temperature
Large number of locals were seen queuing up at the ticket counters.
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