New Delhi: Pollution levels and air quality of the national capital have hit the headlines for the last four months. People of all age groups are suffering, but the elderly and children are badly affected due to deteriorating air quality. Despite all the efforts from the Delhi government as well as the Centre, all went futile. The air quality of the city once again reached the ‘severe’ category as the AQI touched the 400 mark on Saturday (January 11).
Meanwhile, residents of several regions of Delhi are on the receiving end because the air quality of Alipur, Bawana, Ashok Vihar, ITO, Jahangirpuri, Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, Patparganj, Mundka, Nehru Nagar, Pusa, RK Puram, Wazipur, and Vivek Vihar crossed the 450 mark. Therefore, Delhiites are passing their lives in a gas chamber. They haven’t received fresh air for the last four months.
Pollution control authorities have divided the air quality into different forms, such as the AQI: between 0 and 50 is considered good, 51 to 100 is satisfactory, 101 to 200 is moderate, 201 to 300 is poor, 301 to 400 is very poor, 401 to 500 is severe, and above 500 must be considered dangerous.
However, the Meteorological Department has made a prediction that rainfall is likely to occur during the weekend (January 11 and 12), expecting to mitigate the pollution level, improve the AQI, and bring respite among the residents of Delhi-NCR. In fact, poor air quality and smog, which made visibility poor in several areas on Saturday, led to disturbances in the movement of trains and planes.
The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has been trying to apply different strategies to combat pollution but has so far failed to do anything. With the rise in pollution levels, Stage 3 restrictions were once again reinstated in Delhi to prevent the situation from further deteriorating.
