Winter Pollution

Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) soared to a hazardous 500 last November-well beyond safe limits-highlighting India's escalating struggle to combat air pollution

There is no escaping the fact that the solution to pollution lies in myriad hard decisions and sensible legislation on terra firma rather than up in the clouds

Delhi air quality today: Data from the Centre-backed Air Quality Early Warning System showed multiple weather monitoring stations in the national capital hovering in the 'red' mark between the 350-400

The Delhi government has set up a 24x7 'Green War Room' to enhance the execution of its 21-point winter action plan aimed at curbing pollution in the national capital, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Monday. Addressing a press conference, Rai said that a team of eight environmental experts will manage the war room, which has been assigned seven key responsibilities. A new task assigned to the war room this year includes analysing drone mapping and conducting real-time source apportionment studies, Rai said. "The war room will also analyse satellite data of stubble burning, along with information from 13 pollution hotspots," said the minister. Additionally, it will monitor AQI (Air Quality Index) data and assess information from 24 pollution monitoring stations managed by the Delhi government, he said. Regarding the use of artificial rain to reduce pollution, Rai said that he would again seek approval from the central government, as his previous request had not received a ..

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai will on Thursday hold a meeting with departments on the effective implementation of measures outlined in the Centre's air pollution control plan, officials said. The meeting will be held at the Delhi Secretariat at 1 pm, an official said. Rai had previously reprimanded the departments concerned for their negligence in executing the air pollution control plan and urged them to establish a monitoring mechanism for overseeing the teams responsible for enforcing anti-air pollution measures. Delhi's air quality fluctuated between the 'very poor' and 'severe' categories on Thursday due to unfavourable meteorological conditions hindering the dispersion of pollutants. The capital's Air Quality Index stood at 393 at 9 am on Thursday. Its 24-hour average AQI, recorded at 4 pm every day, stood at 401 on Wednesday. It was 397 on Tuesday. It was 358 on Monday and 218 on Sunday, 220 on Saturday, 279 on Friday and 437 on Thursday. Recent findings from a joint

The Delhi University has declared an early winter break from November 13-19 in view of the air pollution in the national capital, according to an official notification released on Friday. The winter break, which is usually given in December, has been revised keeping in mind the GRAP-IV measures being implemented amid the prevailing air pollution in Delhi. All colleges and institutes of the university have been asked to declare the winter break. However, all the pre-scheduled examinations and interviews will be held without any change.

During winter, there are chances of getting respiratory, cardiac diseases because of inhaling chilly air full of smoke, said doctor

The report also states that the onset of winter has been much cleaner this year due to the rains which were witnessed in September and October

On Monday and Tuesday, 1,045 events of stubble burning were reported as against 114 events during the same period in 2021

As winter approaches, Delhi-NCR has been placed under the stage 1 measures of GRAP. Read more to find out what exactly is GRAP

The action plan includes the installation of 233 anti-smog guns and at least 150 mobile anti-smog guns

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Friday wrote to Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, seeking time to discuss and prepare a joint action plan to fight air pollution in the national capital in winter. The Delhi government is committed to providing clean air to people and is working on short-term and long-term measures. These measures are being implemented through action plans for summers and winters, he said. Rai said the Delhi government's efforts have led to an increase in the number of "satisfactory" (AQ1 51 to 100) and "moderate" (AQI 101 to 200) air quality days. He said like the last two years, the Delhi government has prepared a winter action plan to fight air pollution. "We request you to give us time to prepare a plan to save Delhi from the possible danger of air pollution in the coming months," he wrote in the letter to Yadav, who is the Union environment minister. Last year also, Rai wrote several letters to Yadav, calling for emergency meetings to discuss the air ...

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Thursday said the city government will launch a 15-point action plan in October to fight air pollution in winter. The plan will focus on stubble management, dust pollution, vehicular emission, open burning of garbage, industrial pollution, green war room and Green Delhi application, pollution hotspots, real-time apportionment study, smog tower, e-waste parks, plantation, eco-farming, public participation, firecrackers and joint action with neighbouring states. Rai will discuss all the action points in detail with the 33 departments concerned in a meeting on September 5. Their suggestions and recommendations will be incorporated in the winter action plan. The September 5 meeting will also brainstorm on the implementation of the revised Graded Response Action Plan. Rai said 39 per cent of the air pollution in Delhi is generated locally and the rest comes from neighbouring areas in the National Capital Region. The revamped GRAP -- a set of ant

UP, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan to focus on hotspots, CPCB to do ground monitoring of stubble burning

Pollution at severe levels in major cities is putting lives at risk. What can you do to protect yourself?