New Delhi: The air quality in Delhi remained in the ‘good’ category for 1,096 hours in 2022, as against 827 hours in 2021, according to the India Meteorological Department. In the calendar year 2022, the particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) remained in the ‘severe’ category for 204 hours which is about 2.3 per cent of total time, as compared with 628 hours, which is 7.2 per cent of total time, in 2021. According to IMD, Good category hours increased simultaneously whereas Severe category hours declined in 2022 in terms of PM2.5.
The average concentration of PM2.5 and PM10 in 2022 declined compared to 2021. The department said the concentration of PM2.5 declined by about 7 per cent in 2022.
The principal agency said the concentration of PM2.5 during the polluted months — November, December, January, and February — declined in 2022 compared to 2021.
The IMD said it was a better 2022 compared to 2021 in overall AQI.
On the first day of 2023 on Sunday morning, the Delhi AQI was 252, whereas on Saturday morning, the last day of 2022, smog engulfed the national capital pushing the overall air quality to ‘very poor’ category with an overall Air Quality Index of 369.
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NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diarrhoea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
