Air quality remains severe in Delhi-NCR, crackdown on violaters; Haze in Punjab and Haryana too

Air quality remained in the 'severe' category in Delhi and surrounding cities on Saturday, while Haryana and Punjab too were enveloped in a blanket of haze, prompting their chief ministers to press the Centre for an urgent meeting to develop a joint action plan to address the "serious" situation due to pollution in the region.

A day after the Delhi-NCR recorded its worst air quality forcing authorities to shut schools, ban all construction activities and declare a public health emergency, there was a slight dip in pollution levels with the overall air quality index (AQI) at 402 at 8 pm as against 484 on Friday.

However, 20 out of 37 monitoring stations recorded AQI in severe category (401-500). Vivek Vihar was the most polluted at 450 followed by Anand Vihar and ITO, both at 448.

In a crackdown on violators, authorities arrested 34 people including a director and three engineers, from sites of five real estate groups in Noida and Greater Noida for carrying out construction activities despite the ban.

In the National Capital Region (NCR), Ghaziabad, Noida and Greater Noida recorded AQIs of 455, 432 and 429, respectively, at 8 pm on Saturday. On Friday, they had an AQI of over 490.

Weather experts said there is a significant improvement in wind speed and it will increase gradually from Sunday.

With farmers continuing to defy the ban on stubble burning, a blanket of haze engulfed Punjab and Haryana with several districts reporting air quality index in "severe" (101-500) and "very poor" (301-400) categories.

Visibility also reduced substantially in most parts of the two agrarian states.

Fatehabad (AQI 493) in Haryana had the worst average air quality in India over a period of 24 hours ending on Saturday evening, according to the Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB) Saturday 4-pm bulletin. Hisar, Jind, Faridabad and Kaithal also recorded air quality at "severe" level.

In neighbouring Punjab, the air quality fell in "poor" and "very poor" categories. Bathinda recorded air quality index at 318, followed by Ludhiana at 302.

An AQI between 0-50 is considered "good", 51-100 "satisfactory", 101-200 "moderate", 201-300 "poor", 301-400 "very poor", and 401-500 "severe". Above 500 is "severe-plus or emergency" category.

Haze is prevailing in Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh Meteorological Department Director Surinder Pal said on Saturday.

Over 22,000 cases of stubble burning had been witnessed in Punjab and more than 4,200 incidents in Haryana in the recent days, officials said.

The share of stubble burning in Delhi's pollution, however, reduced from 44 per cent on Friday, the season's highest, to 17 per cent on Saturday, according to government air quality monitor SAFAR.

Amid a blame game over failure to check the toxic haze, the chief ministers of Delhi, Punjab and Haryana on Saturday called for urgent intervention by the Centre to develop and implement a joint plan for a "permanent" solution to the problem.

Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia accused Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar of postponing meetings with state environment ministers thrice, on September 12, October 17 and on October 19, saying either he has no time or does not consider treating the national capital's poor air quality a priority.

He also claimed that with the Centre making 63,000 machines to stop stubble burning available in two years, it might take 50-60 years to implement the programme and asked "what should the people of Delhi-NCR do" during this period
The AAP government in Delhi has been blaming BJP-ruled Haryana and the Congress-ruled Punjab for failing to check stubble burning which is considered one of the main contributors to air pollution in the Delhi-NCR region
"Is it not your government's task, Mr. Prime Minister, to search for that permanent solution, in consultation with all the other stakeholders, including Punjab, Delhi and Haryana? he said