New Delhi: With the overall air quality in the national capital recorded at a moderate AQI of 129 on Monday (October 9), Priyanka Kakkar, a spokesperson for the Aam Aadmi Party said that the air quality in Delhi has been the best this year. During a press conference, the AAP Chief Spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar said, “In 2022, the air quality in Delhi improved further by 8 per cent. In 2023, this improvement has reached 31 per cent. According to a report, in the last 8 years, excluding the COVID period, the air quality in Delhi has been the best in the year 2023.” She added,
This year Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change published a report in which it was said that in the last 8 years in which the Covid period was excluded, Delhi’s air was the cleanest in 2023 and had the best air quality.
While reading a real-time data report, the AAP minister shared that several cities of India were included in the list of the 100 most polluted cities in the world, but Delhi was not even among the top 50 of them. She said,
At 3 we have Meerut, 13 Navsari, 14 Hapur, 19 Sonipat, 23 Karnal, 24 Surat, 26 Gandhinagar, 27 Gorakhpur, 28 Muzaffarpur, 29 Thane, but Delhi is still not on the list. Then we have Panipat at 50 but not Delhi. It is the political will of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the consistent efforts of people of Delhi in the war against pollution that in the Economic Survey 2021-22 report, which was tabled in the Parliament recently, it was stated that between 2016 and 2021, PM2.5 concentration (in Delhi) was reduced by 22 per cent, whereas PM10 concentration reduced by 27 per cent.
Also Read: Minister Gopal Rai Launches Anti-Dust Campaign In Delhi To Combat Air Pollution
As per the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the overall air quality in the national capital on 9 October continued to remain in the moderate category with an AQI of 129
According to the AQI scale, the air quality check between 0 and 50 are considered “good”, 51 and 100 are “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 are “moderate”, 201 and 300 are “poor”, 301 and 400 are “very poor”, and 401 and 450 are “severe” and “severe+” when AQI exceeds 450.
Earlier last week, the Centre’s air quality panel directed authorities in the National Capital Region to enforce a ban on coal usage in hotels and restaurants and take punitive measures against polluting industries and thermal power plants as the air quality in Delhi plunged into the “poor” category.
This action came as part of the government’s pollution control plan known as the ‘Graded Response Action Plan’ (GRAP) which is implemented in the Delhi-NCR to combat air pollution during the winter season.
Also Read: Delhi Most Polluted City In India In Past Year: Analysis
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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 – theLGBTQ 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 currentCOVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water,SanitationandHygiene) 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, fightmalnutrition, 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 likeair pollution,waste management,plastic ban,manual scavengingand sanitation workers andmenstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India wheretoiletsare used andopen defecation free (ODF)status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched byPrime Minister Narendra Modiin 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
