New Delhi: The national capital again breathed in a ‘very poor’ category of air as the winter begins to set in. A layer of smog prevailed over the national capital on Sunday morning as the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 315, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR). The national capital recorded AQI at 301 (very poor) on Saturday (November 26) too. This morning, the AQI was 309 (very poor) at the Delhi University area, whereas the air quality at the IIT Delhi was also ‘very poor’ at 309.
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Meanwhile, AQI plunged to the ‘very poor’ category at 301 in the Lodhi Road area. At Mathura Road, the SAFAR noted an AQI level of 331 (very poor) because of high levels of PM 2.5. Delhi Airport Terminal fared no better with an AQI of 332 (very poor).
Similarly, Noida too breathed in the ‘poor category’ with AQI at 345. Air Quality Index is a tool for effective communication of air quality status to people in terms, which are easy to understand. It transforms complex air quality data of various pollutants into a single number (index value), nomenclature and colour.
The Air Quality Index from 0 to 100 is considered as good, while from 100 to 200 it is moderate, from 200 to 300 it is poor, and from 300 to 400 it is said to be very poor and from 400 to 500 or above it is considered as severe.
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Amid continuing poor air quality, the Sub-Committee for invoking actions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) held a meeting on November 18 to review the progress of the actions implemented under Stage II along with Stage I of the GRAP in the entire NCR.
As per the dynamic model and weather/ meteorological forecast provided by IMD/ IITM, the overall air quality is likely to fluctuate largely between ‘Poor’ to the lower end of the ‘Very Poor’ categories in the next few days. The predominant surface wind is predicted to be coming from the North/ North-West direction in Delhi, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said.
The Sub-Committee of the Commission is closely watching the situation and will review the air quality scenario accordingly.
Also Read: Delhi: Quality Of Air Still At ‘Very Poor’ Category, Air Quality Index At 3O9
(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 – 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 diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
