New Delhi: Residents of Delhi have been experiencing blankets of smog for the last couple of days, turning the air quality into the ‘severe’ category, leading to respiratory and lung infections amid surging pollution levels. A huge number of people are suffering from diseases, resulting in a rush in the hospitals. Several patients have to be admitted due to their deteriorating air quality. The situation is not likely to improve in the coming weeks.
Delhi, with AQI 498, has been declared the second most polluted city in the world, just behind neighboring Lahore, with AQI 770 recorded at 7 am on Friday. Several areas of the city have been identified as most polluted this morning: Jahangirpuri (with AQI 458), Bawana (455), Wazirpur (455), Rohini (452), and Punjabi Bagh (443), as per the Central Pollution Control Board’s Sameer App.
The visibility has turned poor in the NCR amid smog, affecting flight and rail services. More than 25 trains arrived in Delhi late, and various trains are running late. So is the case with flights delayed or running late. Passengers have to cope with the situation, waiting on the railway platforms or airports for numerous hours.
Seeing the worsening conditions of air quality, the Delhi government has decided to shut all primary schools; online classes will be taken. It was announced by CM Atishi in a post on X (formerly Twitter). She said the online classes for primary school children will continue “until further directions.”
With the falling air quality, the government has implemented GRAP Stage 3 in Delhi, NCR, from 8 am today. This decision is taken to curb the pollution and improve the situation to some extent. It means non-essential construction, demolition, and activities in polluting industries will be stopped with immediate effect, restricting BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel vehicles.
