New Delhi: With Delhi’s air quality level breaching WHO’s limit by 60 times, national capital’s air quality on Monday, with areas like Dwarka, Mundka and Najafgarh recorded a maximum AQI of 500 in the afternoon.
As the city’s air quality is in the “severe plus” category, doctors have warned of health risks for all.
What are doctors saying?
“At this level of pollution, wearing an N95 mask is not an option but a necessity. Even healthy individuals can face respiratory illnesses and other health complications,” reported ANI quoting Dr Rajat Sharma, resident doctor of Community Medicine at UCMS & GTB Hospital.
Ujjwal Parakh, senior consultant, Department of Chest Medicine at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, told ANI that people need to be extremely cautious at this time due to the hazardous air quality. “Everyone should avoid outdoor activities as much as possible and use masks to reduce the effects of air pollution if they must go out,” he said.
Supreme Court grills govt
The Supreme Court on Monday grilled the Delhi government over delay in implementation of stricter anti-pollution measures under GRAP-4 and said it will not allow scaling down of the preventive measures without its prior permission.
It told the state government that the court wants to know what steps it has taken to curb the alarming rise of pollution level.
“We won’t allow scaling down of preventive measures under stage 4 even if AQI goes below 450. Stage 4 will continue till court permits,” a bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George said, adding it will hear the matter in detail at the end of the day’s work.
GRAP-IV in place:
On Sunday, the CAQM announced stricter pollution control measures for the Delhi-NCR under GRAP-4, effective from 8 am on Monday, including a ban on truck entry and a temporary halt on construction at public projects. According to an order issued by CAQM on Sunday, no trucks will be allowed in Delhi except for those carrying essential items or using clean fuel (LNG/CNG/BS-VI diesel/electric).
Non-essential light commercial vehicles registered outside Delhi will also be prohibited, except for EVs and CNG, and BS-VI diesel ones.
Delhi-registered BS-IV or older diesel medium and heavy goods vehicles are banned except for those in essential services, the order said.
All construction activities, including highways, roads, flyovers, power lines, pipelines and other public projects, have been suspended.
The CAQM recommended that offices in the NCR work at 50 per cent capacity, with the rest working from home.
The Delhi government asked all schools to discontinue physical classes for all students, except those in classes 10 and 12, from Monday.
Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai directed the health department to form special task force at LNJP Hospital to address pollution-related medical emergency. He said that schools have been asked to distribute masks among students of Class 10 and 12.
An AQI of 400 or higher is deemed ‘severe’ and it can have an adverse effect on both healthy individuals and people who already have medical conditions.
First implemented in 2017, the GRAP is a set of anti-air pollution measures followed in the capital and its vicinity according to the severity of the situation.
It classifies the air quality in the Delhi-NCR under four different stages: Stage 1 – ‘poor’ (AQI 201-300), Stage 2 – ‘very poor’ (AQI 301-400), Stage 3 – ‘severe’ (AQI 401-450) and Stage 4 – ‘severe plus’ (AQI above 450).
(with agency inputs)>
