Delhi's air quality improved marginally and was recorded in the "moderate" category on Monday days after being in the 'poor' zone. As per the Central Pollution Control Board, on October 16, as of 7 a.m., Delhi's Air Quality Index stood at 199. The AQI has been recorded in the "poor" category in Ghaziabad, with an AQI of 229. Meanwhile, AQI in UP's Noida stands at 204, in the 'Poor' category as per SAFAR-India.
On Sunday, Delhi’s air quality was in the “poor” category, as per the officials of the Met department. The officials had said that there is a possibility of improvement in the days to come due to favourable weather conditions. On Sunday, the AQI in the national capital was recorded at 233, a slight improvement from the day before, when it was recorded at 257.
Earlier, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said that the government in the city is working as per the winter action plan announced by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal last month amid concerns over the rising pollution in the national capital.
Speaking to new agency ANI, the minister said, “CM Arvind Kejriwal announced his 15-point winter action plan on seeing the report of rising pollution every winter. Delhi government is working based on that plan. For the hot spots, 13 special teams have been formed. These teams are focusing on the action plan made for the hot spots. As far as stubble burning is concerned, bio decomposers are being used to decompose the stubble.”
Ahead of winter, the government announced its action plan wherein CM Kejriwal listed out some measures to check air pollution in the national capital. The government identified 13 hot spots where pollution is high and formed special teams for each of these hot spots.
“There were two thermal power plants in Delhi, both of them have been shut now. Heavy fines are being imposed over those responsible for dust pollution. Industrial units in Delhi earlier used polluting fuel but now they have been shifted to piped natural gas,” CM Kejriwal said, as quoted by PTI.
Meanwhile, Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 21.6 degrees Celsius on Sunday, two notches above the season's average. The air quality index (AQI) was in the poor category. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the relative humidity on Sunday was 75 per cent.