The government accused the neighboring BJP-ruled states of sending BS-IV diesel buses, which increased pollution. Delhi’s air quality deteriorated on Sunday, with many areas falling under the “severe” category despite the Delhi government’s invoking restrictions under stage three of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).
According to data from the Central Pollution Control Board, they recorded an Air Quality Index of 429 on Sunday, with several stations recording “severe” air quality, including Anand Vihar (457), Ashok Vihar (466), Bawana (471), Burari Crossing (471), CRRI Mathura Road (471), Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range (415), Dwarka Sector-8 (452), IGI Airport (452), IBHAS-Dilshad Garden (443), ITO (414), Jahangirpuri (465), Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium (420), Mandir Marg (432), Mundka (461), NSIT Dwarka (422), Najafgarh (409), Narela (442), Nehru Nagar (442), North Campus DU (421), Okhla Phase-2 (408), Patparganj (435), Punjab Bagh (446), Pusa-DPCC (408), Pusa-IMD (428), RK Puram (433), Rohin (448), Shadipur (456), Sirifort (404), Sonia Vihar (435), Vivek Vihar (453), and Wazirpur 461.
AQI is considered ‘good’ between 0 and 50, ‘satisfactory’ between 51 and 100, ‘moderate’ between 101 and 200, ‘poor’ between 201 and 300, ‘very poor’ between 301 and 400, ‘severe’ between 401 and 450, and above 450, ‘severe plus’.
The worsened air quality led to the city being shrouded in a layer of smog, affecting visibility and leading to delayed and canceled flights at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. At 7:30 am, the visibility dropped to 800 meters at IGI Airport, leading to 107 flights being delayed and 3 canceled, reported India Today.
The restriction under GRAP-III came into force on Friday, and the authorities are upping the ante against norms violators. Large teams of traffic police and the transport department have started slapping fines on violators.
The Delhi Traffic Police issued nearly 550 challans on Friday for violating the ban on plying BS III petrol and BS IV diesel vehicles, imposing fines of over Rs 1 crore on the first day of restriction under the third stage of GRAP.
