Delhi Minister Gopal Rai calls for review meeting on pollution post Diwali

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai has called for a pollution review meeting with the officers of the Environment Department at the Delhi Secretariat on Monday.

This comes after the Air Quality Index (AQI) at several places in Delhi-NCR was in the 'severe' or 'severe plus' category for the past several days.

Additionally, the post-Diwali celebrations in the region have posed a matter of concern for the residents in the area and its adjoining places.

Speaking to ANI about the review meeting, Rai said, "The review meeting will include discussions on the overall air quality situation in Delhi-NCR. We will conduct discussions on the status of the different enforcement works that have been implemented to tackle the pollution."

"A meeting has been called at 12 pm today on Monday, wherein we will discuss all the situations related to the air quality and pollution," added the Environment Minister.

A thick layer of smog engulfed Delhi and its adjoining National Capital Region (NCR) on Monday morning, a day after people celebrated Diwali by bursting crackers across the city and contributing to the deteriorating air quality.

Pictures and videos from various parts of Delhi showed a thick haze covering the roads, significantly reducing visibility and making it difficult to see beyond a few hundred meters.

Despite the AAP government's complete ban on firecrackers and the 'Diya Jalao, Patakhe nahi' campaign, visuals from various parts of Delhi, including Lodhi Road, RK Puram, Karol Bagh, and Punjabi Bagh, showed fireworks lighting up the night sky on Sunday.

Congress MP Manish Tewari took to social media X and posted, "Last night in Lutyens Delhi firecrackers were bursting till 2 AM in the morning with sparklers, bombs, rockets and every other firecracker used on Deepawali on full & ferocious display. Did the Supreme Court ban Firecrackers?"

Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale also wrote to the Delhi police on Monday seeking information on cases filed against the bursting of firecrackers on Diwali night.

Recently, Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government in Delhi imposed a complete ban on firecrackers. In the wake of the pollution situation, the government even considered the idea of 'artificial rain' to tackle the foul air in the city, until sudden rainfall brought a major respite, lowering the pollution level.

Previous data related to pollution shows that since the last week of October, the national capital's air quality has been at its worst.

The concentration of PM 2.5 in the city has been recorded at 20 times the limit prescribed by the World Health Organisation, prompting the city government to order the closure of all primary classes and restrict the entry of trucks.