Page 28 - Air Pollution

L-G flags dust disaster in letter to CM Atishi, AAP calls BJP hypocrite

Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Wednesday wrote to Chief Minister Atishi citing road dust as the biggest contributor to air pollution in the city and suggesting it would be better to set one's own house in order rather than blaming others. The AAP, however, said the country's top three cities with the worst AQI levels are in BJP-ruled Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, which exposes the party's hypocrisy. It claimed Delhi was "breathing its cleanest air in the last decade" and noted today's Supreme Court order reprimanding the Centre for not taking stringent measures to control pollution. Citing studies and his own experience of visiting various localities, Saxena claimed in his letter that about 36 per cent of the air pollution in the city was due to dust on the roads, largely caused by unprocessed construction and demolition waste. He claimed the Delhi government might have little control over 26 per cent of the causative factors behind pollution due to parali (paddy stubble) ...

Breathe at your own risk: How Delhi's air is taking a dangerous turn

Health experts warn that vulnerable groups, including children and the elderly, face heightened risk, raising serious concern over the long-term impacts of air pollution

Lahore declared the world's most polluted city as smog crisis deepens

Lahore's alarming pollution crisis is primarily driven by crop residue burning and industrial emissions

To curb air pollution, parking charges in Lutyens' Delhi likely to double

In another step to curb the rising air pollution in the national capital, the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) is likely to double its parking charges. "In keeping Delhi's rising pollution in mind, the NDMC has decided to double its parking charges to encourage people to travel by public transportation," a senior NDMC official told PTI. The order regarding the hike in parking charges is to be released soon, the official added. Under the normal parking charges for surface parking at the NDMC parking lots, four-wheelers are charged Rs 20 per hour (with a maximum of Rs 100 for a day), while two-wheelers are charged Rs 10 per hour. In the case of multilevel parking sites, the charges are Rs 10 for four hours for cars and Rs 5 up to four hours for two-wheelers. For the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), which manages around 96 per cent of the city's geographical area, the parking charges have not been hiked so far as the proposal for the increase is pending clearance before th

BRICS summit, Delhi pollution, Hyundai Motor India & more

During bilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged a peaceful resolution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict

Delhi AQI crisis triggers Grap stage 2: What it means for the capital

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast that Delhi's AQI will remain in the 'very poor' range over the coming days

10 easy ways to purify indoor air to protect your family from poor air

The AQI of Delhi and NCR has already dropped to "very poor," which is very dangerous for our health. The worsening air quality has forced the people to stay indoors, but even indoor air can be unsafe

Delhi urges UP, Haryana, Raj to restrict diesel buses to curb air pollution

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Tuesday wrote letters to the transport ministers of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, urging them to ensure no diesel buses from their states plied to the national capital in view of GRAP II restrictions in place. With the air quality in Delhi plummeting, Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) second stage restrictions kicked in from 8 am. Rai announced a slew of measures, including enhanced water sprinkling to control road dust, use of dust suppressants and deployment of additional traffic personnel to ease traffic congestion, among others. Rai said in his letters that a major component of this air pollution is vehicular emissions largely attributed to the significant number of diesel buses reaching Delhi from their states. "The impact of diesel emissions on air quality is well established and the large influx of such buses significantly contribute to the degradation of air quality in Delhi, posing serious health risks to the residents," he

'Red Light on-Gaadi off' campaign against pollution commences in Delhi

Kicking off the campaign at ITO intersection, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai appealed to drivers to help reduce pollution by turning off their vehicle engines at red light

Rise in respiratory disease cases due to air pollution, say experts

The central-run hospital Ram Manohar Lohia has also started running special OPD services for Air Pollution patients

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Delhi's AQI improves to 'poor' category; political blame game erupts

A recent survey revealed that 36 per cent of the families in Delhi-NCR have one or more members experiencing pollution-related health problems

Changing weather responsible for Delhi's poor air quality: Gopal Rai

Delhi's air quality has deteriorated to the 'poor' category due to changing weather conditions and the pollution level is expected to worsen after Diwali, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Saturday. Rai told PTI Videos that the Delhi government is doing everything it can to control dust pollution and needs the cooperation of residents. Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded in the 'poor' category with a reading of 273 at 9 am on Saturday, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data. In some areas, the air quality was worse. The AQI in Mundka and Bawana stood at 366, Wazirpur 355, Jahangirpuri 347 and Anand Vihar 333, all in the 'very poor' category, the data showed. Rai said Delhi's air quality has dropped to the 'poor' category due to changing weather conditions and with temperatures dropping, the situation could deteriorate further. It is likely to worsen after Diwali, he said. "For such emergencies, we have written to the central government," the minis

36% of Delhi-NCR families experiencing pollution-related ailments: Survey

Amid deteriorating air quality, 36 per cent of the families in Delhi-NCR have one or more members experiencing pollution-related ailments like sore throat, cough, and breathing difficulty, a survey revealed. With over 21,000 responses from the residents of Delhi-NCR, the survey -- conducted by digital platform LocalCircles -- has revealed the impacts of air pollution on the people of the national capital region. The findings show that 36 per cent of families have one or more members experiencing sore throat, cough, and breathing difficulty due to pollution and 27 per cent of the families have one or more members with a runny nose and congestion. Twenty-seven per cent of respondents said they were not facing any health issues related to the poor air quality, according to the survey. With Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) in the "poor" category, the survey asked the respondents about their plans to cope. The survey highlighted that only 18 per cent of the respondents intend to use air

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Delhi wakes up to a blanket of smog; AQI drops to 'very poor' in many areas

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasts unfavourable weather will continue, keeping pollution levels high until at least Sunday

Delhi govt forms committees to control air pollution at 13 hotspots

Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Friday said the government has formed a coordination committee each to identify and mitigate local sources of pollution at 13 locations in the city stifled with "very poor" air. Rai at a press conference said that while whole of Delhi is breathing 'poor' air, it is particularly 'very poor' at 13 hotspots, where the Air Quality Index has crossed 300. Narela, Bawana, Mundka, Wazirpur, Rohini, R K Puram, Okhla, Jahangirpuri, Anand Vihar, Punjabi Bagh, Mayapuri, and Dwarka Sector-8 have been identified as these 13 places. Rai said the committees will be headed by the deputy commissioners of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. He added that DPCC engineers are also designated at all hotspots and they will submit daily reports to a 'Pollution War Room'. Dust has been identified as one of the major factors at 13 hotspots for 300-plus AQI, he said, adding, 80 mobile anti-smog guns have been deployed to bring the air dust down in these areas.

Delhi pollution level soars on 4th consecutive day, 13 stations in 'red'

Delhi residents endured the fourth consecutive day of 'poor' air quality on Thursday, with indicators at 13 monitoring stations across the city being in the 'red zone', up from two the day before. The 13 stations -- Ashok Vihar, Dwarka Sector 8, Patparganj, Punjabi Bagh, Rohini, Bawana, Burari, Jahangirpuri, Mundka, Narela, Okhla Phase 2, Shadipur, and Vivek Vihar -- recorded readings above 300, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The overall air quality remained in the 'poor' category for the fourth consecutive day, with an average 24-hour reading of 285 recorded at 4 pm. The city witnessed a cloudy sky through the day with a maximum temperature of 36.2 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal, according to the weather department. On Thursday, relative humidity fluctuated between 91 percent and 55 percent, with the minimum temperature settling at 20.3 degrees Celsius, a notch above the season's average. The IMD has forecast a mainly clear sky for Friday,

DPCC launches dust control portal for construction projects in Delhi

The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has launched a "Dust Pollution Control Self-Assessment" portal mandating all construction and demolition projects in the national capital to register on it and upload regular dust control audits. In line with the directives issued by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on December 20, 2021, the DPCC now mandates that all construction and demolition (C&D) projects occupying a plot area of 500 square metre or more must register on a newly-developed web portal, the pollution control authority said in a notice. The portal is designed to facilitate online self-assessment and remote monitoring, ensuring that dust control measures are properly implemented across construction sites. It requires project proponents to conduct regular self-audits of dust control practices and submit fortnightly self-declarations, the notice said. Additionally, sites within the municipal areas of the National Capital Region (NCR) with plot sizes of 500

NDMC fines Rs 50,000 for dust pollution at construction sites in Delhi

With air quality dropping to "poor" levels in the city, the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) carried out inspections at construction sites, issuing challans of Rs 50,000 for each violation of dust mitigation measures. Due to sustained poor Air Quality Index (AQI) for the past few days in Delhi, the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) Stage 1 was implemented on Tuesday. "The NDMC has constituted inspection of construction sites for enforcing dust mitigation measures, and as many as 30 challans of Rs 50,000 each (total Rs 15 lakh) have been issued as per the guidelines of National Green Tribunal (NGT)," an NDMC statement said on Wednesday. The civic body is taking different initiatives to reduce air pollution, and violators are fined for the violations by teams who carry out the inspection, supervise and monitor the action, the statement said. According to the statement, the civic body's Public Health Department has also issued 290 challans of Rs 48,747 to those who violate rule