Delhi-NCR News: No Relief For Residents In Delhi, Noida As Air Quality Remains 'Very Poor'

The air quality in Delhi and Noida showed no improvement and remained in the 'very poor' category on Thursday morning.

For almost a week, residents of Delhi-NCR have been reeling under the air pollution menace as the situation showed no improvement and on Thursday morning Delhi and Noida stood in the 'very poor' category with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 351 and 377 respectively.

Meanwhile, according to the data shared by the Central Pollution Control Board on November 1, the air quality in Greater Noida stood at 354 in the 'very poor' category and Faridabad was also in the same category with an air quality index of 309. However, Ghaziabad and Gurugram were slightly better with an AQI of 254 and 226 in the 'poor' category.

Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Wednesday said the AAP government was implementing various measures to reduce air pollution as the air quality continued to dip in the national capital.

He said that the government has banned the entry of diesel buses into national capital, alllowing only CNG, Electric, or BS-VI buses to reduce the effect of increased pollution.

Mumbai, also experiencing the pollution menace, has implemented measures such as fitting vehicle-mounted air filters on buses, installing virtual chimneys at congested areas, placing special streetlights and installing air purification systems in select gardens to tackle the crisis.

Apart from these, the civic body has ordered 30 fog cannons or vehicles mounted with sprinklers and issued notices to readymix concrete units, and industries directing them to increase the height of chimneys, said Mumbai district guardian minister Deepak Kesarkar told news agency PTI.

This comes two days after the Supreme Court pulled up the states of Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to file affidavits stating the action taken to curb air pollution which has affected parts of the country ahead of the winters. A three-judge bench of the apex court asked the state governments to file the affidavit within a week's time as they held crop burning as one of the major reasons contributin to the pollution menace in the national capital.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had sought a report from the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on the action taken to tackle the pollution crisis in and around Delhi adding to the worry of the residents who face the same problem every year.