The air quality index (AQI) in the country’s capital improved on Saturday morning, but it still remains in the poor category. Let us inform you that Phase II of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) is already implemented in Delhi-NCR.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the overall air quality index (AQI) in the national capital stood at 259 till 8 am today.
The AQI in RK Puram in south-west Delhi stood at 265, while Patparganj recorded 263, both in the “poor” category. However, East Delhi’s Anand Vihar recorded an AQI of 412, placing it in the “severe” category.
Truck-mounted water sprinklers were deployed to tackle high levels of particulate matter on Janpath Road, as air quality largely remained in the ‘very poor’ category in many areas.
Other areas of concern include Bawana, where the AQI was 336, which is in the ‘very poor’ category, and Ito, where the AQI was 248. Dwarka recorded a comparatively lower AQI of 276, which is still in the ‘poor’ category, highlighting the uneven distribution of pollution across the capital.
As air quality in Delhi continues to deteriorate, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Friday said cloud seeding has become a necessity for the national capital and termed it a pioneering step in tackling the city’s persistent environmental crisis.
Speaking to ANI, Rekha Gupta said, “Cloud seeding is a necessity for Delhi and this is the first experiment of its kind. We want to try it in Delhi to see if it can help us control this serious environmental problem.”
“So the blessings of the people of Delhi are with the government and we feel that this will be a successful experiment and in future we will be able to overcome these environmental problems,” he said.
Earlier, Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that Delhi will remain cloudy from October 28 to 30 and said that the Delhi government is ready with physical testing and permission to conduct artificial rain on October 29.
The air quality index (AQI) in Delhi and its National Capital Region (NCR) has fallen into the ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ categories in many areas, while Phase 2 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) is still in effect.
