Hazardous layer of smog engulfs entire NCR; Delhi’s LG holds emergency meeting

New Delhi: The air quality in Delhi continued to remain in the ‘severe’ category on Saturday with a hazardous layer of smog engulfing entire NCR.

As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the over all Air Quality Index in Delhi was recorded, 448 at 7 am AM today.

The concentration of PM2.5 in Delhi stands at 354 µg/m³, with PM10 at 552 µg/m³ in most of the areas in Delhi-NCR, which exceeded the safe limit of 60 micrograms per cubic metre.

Meanwhile the Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena chaired an emergency meeting yesterday to review the dipping air quality in the city and terming the situation worrisome.

The Interim measures were discussed in the meeting, including appeal to the general public to remain indoors as far as possible and use public transport to reduce emissions and dust pollution.

The LG reiterated the need to put in place a long term permanent plan of action to mitigate the air pollution crisis.

According to a forecast issued by the Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi, today the wind speed is likely to be around 6 to 8 kmph with shallow fog in the morning

The other parts of the NCR also recorded AQI in the ‘severe’ category. The AQI level Noida recoded at 429, in Gurugram 425,while it was 457 in Faridabad at 7 am.

However the central government on Friday deferred implementation of stricter measures under the final stage of the air pollution control plan, saying curbs under Stage III were implemented only a day ago and the air quality index in Delhi-NCR is already showing a declining trend.

On Thursday with the air quality in the ‘severe’ category in Delhi, the Commission for Air Quality Management has invoked Stage-III of the Graded Response Action Plan.

Meanwhile, in Punjab, since the beginning of the paddy harvesting season from 15th September till Friday a total of 12 thousand 813 incidents of stubble burning in the fields have been reported. The administration has taken action only in 973 incidents and imposed environmental compensation.

As per the official data till now, the authorities in various districts have taken action only in 973 incidents of paddy stubble burning. The Environmental compensation of 24 lakh 30 thousand rupees has been imposed on such farmers, and recovery of 3 lakh 95 thousand rupees has been made.

It’s clear that the pace of action is very slow due to which the number of such incidents has started crossing more than a thousand every day in the last few days.

The highest number of stubble burning incidents 1,907 have been seen in Sangrur, the home district of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann followed by 1,469 in the border district Tarn Taran and 1,353 in Amritsar district.