Delhi air pollution worsens, emergency measures come into effect

Delhi's air quality has reached at alarming levels and the administration has activated stage-4 of its emergency anti-pollution measures. The air quality index stood at 481 at 6 am on Monday morning, a reading classified as "severe plus" which has serious implications on the health. reached alarming levels. The Centre's air quality panel on Sunday announced stricter pollution control measures for the Delhi-NCR under Stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), which will come into effect from 8 am on Monday. The Delhi government suspended in-person classes for all except for students of classes 10 and 12.Students of all schools up to Class 9 will move to online mode from Monday in view of the increasing pollution levels in the capital city until further notice, the Delhi government announced on Sunday. Public, municipal, and private offices are required to operate at 50% capacity, with the remaining staff working from home. The central government will make a decision regarding work-from-home policies for its employees.
The restrictions include a ban on truck entry and a temporary halt on construction at public projects.Non-essential light commercial vehicles from outside Delhi are also barred, with exceptions granted only to EVs, CNG, and BS-VI diesel vehicles.The ban has also been imposed on all Delhi-registered medium and heavy diesel goods vehicles having BS-IV or older standards, except those engaged in essential services.According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, on Saturday, four cities in the country recorded AQI in the "severe" category. Bahadurgarh in Haryana topped the list with an AQI of 445, followed by Delhi (441), Bhiwani in Haryana (415) and Bikaner in Rajasthan (404).
AQI is categorised into six levels based on pollutant concentrations. An AQI between 0 and 50 indicates 'good', while 51 to 100 is considered 'satisfactory'. Levels between 101 and 200 are classified as 'moderate', escalating to 'poor' for 201 to 300. A range of 301 to 400 is deemed "very poor", while 401 to 450 represents 'severe' air pollution. Readings exceeding 450 fall into the 'severe plus' category, which means extremely hazardous conditions.
Each winter, New Delhi faces heavy smog - a harmful mixture of smoke and fog- as cold air traps dust, pollutants, and emissions from illegal farm fires. Officials blamed high pollution, combined with humidity, calm winds and dropping temperatures for the smog, with the Indian meteorological department forecasting smog conditions and low wind speeds until Saturday.