BJP blames AAP-ruled Punjab as smog engulfs capital city after Diwali; most parts in ‘red zone’ | Highlights

Environmentalist Bhavreen Kandhari termed Delhi's dip in air quality as a wake-up call for the city."With nearly every monitoring station in Delhi now in the red zone and the city's Air Quality Index soaring past 300... it is a wake-up call," she said. "Today's smog isn't just clouding the sky, it is choking our children's lungs," she said. In India, respiratory infections already account for nearly 70 per cent of all communicable diseases and the country leads the world in chronic respiratory illnesses, Kandhari said.

As Delhi gasps for air, minister Ashish Sood blamed people for flouting Supreme Court's firecracker norms. “The AQI in Anand Vihar at around 5 AM was 943 and 390 in Shahdara. Only firecrackers are not responsible for pollution in Delhi. However, I believe people should have followed the SC's order to burst crackers before 10 PM. Delhi has no weather of its own; many factors determine the weather and pollution levels here, and adjacent states also have a role to play,” he said.

Delhi's toxic air has started showing impact on residents as several people complained about breathing difficulties and irritation in eyes. news agency ANI spoke to residents who "Pollution hasn't just been increasing today; it's been increasing for years. Everyone blames politicians, but the people themselves are like this. People aren't improving themselves. You'll get firecrackers, but it's up to you whether to burst them or not. Then they'll complain that the government isn't doing anything... There are problems in breathing, irritation in eyes."

With Delhi's AQI plunging into the ‘very poor’ category, the Bharatiya Janata Party and Aam Aadmi Party leaders for stubble burning in Punjab which is ruled by the AAP.

India’s air pollution problem has drawn global attention, with the national capital ranking as the world’s most polluted city. While Delhi just topped the chart, there were two more Indian cities ranking pretty high on the global chart. According to the list, shared by Swiss air quality firm IQAir, while Delhi stood at the top, Mumbai got the 5th spot and Kolkata ranked at the 8th. Two Pakistani cities also made it to the top 10 most-polluted, with Lahore at 2nd and Karachi at spot 4.

The air quality in many parts of Haryana was recorded in the 'very poor' category while it was in the 'poor' bracket in parts of neighbouring Punjab. Bahadurgarh recorded the worst air quality as its AQI was 358 at 8 am, according to the CPCB data. At 8 am, Jind recorded an AQI of 350. The monitoring stations in Gurugram's Sector 51 and Vikas Sadan recorded an AQI of 348 and 325, respectively. The AQI was 343 in Rohtak, 307 in Bhiwani, 249 in Faridabad, 290 in Kaithal, 255 in Sonipat, 225 in Karnal, 234 in Kurukshetra, 231 in Panipat and 296 in Sirsa.

The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) in Rajasthan stood at 243 as of 8 am today. Bhiwadi recorded the highest AQI in the state at 318, while Ajmer Civil Lines reported 228, Kota 227, and Udaipur 220 all falling in the "poor" category. Baran registered an AQI of 207, Hanumangarh 253, Bikaner 231, and Churu 220, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

At 10 am, Delhi recorded an overall AQI of 356 with Bawan logging AQI of 431.

Data shared by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on its Sameer app shows Delhi's air turned toxic, from ‘moderate’ and even ‘good’ to ‘very poor’ within weeks. On October 1, Delhi recorded an AQI of 130, which further went down to 88 on October 3 and even reached 73 on October 7.

News agency ANI spoke to Delhiites with most of them opining that pollution control measures need to be individual-driven efforts as responsibility cannot be pinned to the government alone.

The air quality in Mumbai was recorded in 'poor' category as AQI stood at 214 as of 8 am, in Patna at 224, in Jaipur at 231, Lucknow at 222. The AQI in Bengaluru stood at 94, Chennai at 153, Hyderabad at 107. During the 'very poor' air quality, residents might face breathing difficulties and one can develop respiratory illness on prolonged exposure.

A senior DFS officer told news agency PTI that the department remained on high alert throughout the festival, with all fire stations and quick response teams deployed across the city. "We received 269 fire calls till midnight. Fortunately, no major incidents were reported," the officer said.

The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi stood at 350 as of 8 am on Tuesday, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Here is the area-wise AQI:

Bawana: 423

Jahangirpuri: 407

Wazirpur: 408

Anand Vihar: 358

Ashok Vihar: 389

Burari Crossing: 399

Chandani Chowk: 350

IGI Airport: (Terminal 3): 302

ITO: 342

Lodhi Road: 322

Mundka: 366

Najafgarh: 336

Narela: 358

Patparganj: 342

Punjabi Bagh: 376

According to the SAMEER app developed by the CPCB, three monitoring stations had AQI levels over 400, indicating ‘severe’ air quality across the region. These stations were Bawana (418), Jahangirpuri (404), and Wazirpur (408).

Meanwhile, the Delhi Fire Services said it received more than 269 calls about fire incidents during Diwali on Monday. However, no major accidents including loss of life or major injuries were reporters, the department said.

On Sunday, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) invoked Stage II of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across Delhi-NCR. The move followed a review of the sub-committee on GRAP on Saturday and forecasts by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM). The anti-pollution curb is likely to be scaled up in view of Delhi's toxic air.

While the Supreme Court had allowed the bursting of green firecrackers between 8 pm and 10 pm on the festival day, but the celebrations continued well past the allotted time. As fireworks continued till midnight, Delhi's air quality deteriorated, with most of the monitoring stations marked in the 'red zone'.

Check the area-wise AQI recorded at 7am today:

Anand Vihar: 358 (Very poor)

Bawana: Severe 423 (Severe)

Burari Crossing: 399 (Very poor)

Chandni Chowk: 350 (Very poor)

IGI Airport (T3): 302 (Very poor)

ITO Delhi: 342 (Very poor)

Jahangirpuri: 407 (Severe)

Najafgarh: 336 (Very poor)

Most monitoring stations at 10pm on Monday recorded pollution levels in the ‘red zone’, which indicated ‘very poor’ to ‘severe’ air quality across the national capital. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the four worst-performing stations were Dwarka (417), Ashok Vihar (404), Wazirpur (423) and Anand Vihar (404).

Delhi woke up to another morning of toxic air day after Diwali fireworks as the CPCB data showed most areas in red zone, indicating ‘very poor’ to ‘severe’ AQI category.