Delhi air remains toxic; SC asks panel to find 'a permanent solution'

The Air Quality Index (AQI) of the national capital was 339 --'very poor'-- at 8 am, according to SAFAR

Delhi is breathing polluted air on Friday a day after the Supreme Court asked a state panel to find a permanent solution to a spike in pollution lasting for weeks in the national capital region.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) of the national capital was 339 --'very poor'-- at 8 am, according to the Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality forecast agency SAFAR. Readings below 50 are considered safe, while anything above 300 is considered hazardous or 'severe'.

The apex court asked the Commission for Air Quality Management to invite suggestions of the public and experts for a permanent solution to the problem of air pollution in Delhi-NCR.

A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana took note of a report filed by the panel, which informed of a decision to lift the ban on certain industries.

"So far as construction activities have been taken it's been stated that a decision will be taken tomorrow... Meanwhile, we direct the commission to invite suggestions of the general public and experts about a permanent solution to the pollution," the SC bench also comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and Surya Kant. 

Delhi this morning was the world's most polluted city with an AQI of 244, said iQair, a website that tracks air quality worldwide. Mumbai and Kolkata, the other Indian cities on the list, were at the ninth and tenth spot with an AQI of 157, 156.

Delhi's air quality in November was the worst in seven years, data showed. The air became worse after Diwali on November 4 as people violated a ban on bursting firecrackers while the pollution compounded due to an increase in stubble burning by farmers in areas adjoining the national capital.

Air pollution costs Indian businesses $95 billion or roughly 3 per cent of its GDP every year, according to U.K.-based non-profit Clean Air Fund and the Confederation of Indian Industry, Bloomberg has reported.