AQI slips back into ‘severe’ category, smog blankets city

The air quality index (AQI) in the Capital slipped back into the ‘severe’ category on Saturday, following a brief improvement to the ‘very poor’ category the previous day. The minimum temperature also dropped to 15°C as dense smog blanketed the city for the fourth consecutive morning.

In response to the deteriorating air quality earlier this week, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) enforced stricter measures under Stage-III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai inspected the Kashmere Gate ISBT to oversee the implementation of GRAP-III guidelines alongside Transport Department officials. During the inspection, Rai noted that BS-IV diesel buses from neighbouring states were still entering the city despite the ban. He confirmed that enforcement teams issued challans to BS-IV buses from the Haryana and Uttarakhand Governments.

Taking a dig at BJP-led state governments, Rai accused them of deliberately sending banned diesel buses into Delhi, worsening the city’s air pollution. Citing a report by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), Minister Rai said only 30 per cent of Delhi’s pollution originates within the city, while the remaining 70 per cent is contributed by NCR districts.

“The Delhi Government has implemented both summer and winter action plans to combat pollution, but BJP-led neighbouring states are aggravating the problem,” Rai stated. He pointed out that diesel buses from Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh were contributing significantly to pollution levels in Delhi and surrounding areas.

Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Devender Yadav and Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva both criticised the AAP-led Delhi Government for its failure to implement concrete measures to address the city’s air quality issues.

Yadav said, “No serious effort is being made to control the toxic, smoggy weather in the Capital, as evident from the fact that despite assurances from Chief Minister Atishi and former CM Kejriwal, Delhi’s roads remain broken and potholed, which is one of the major causes of severe air pollution.”

Yadav accused Rai of announcing various pollution control measures without actually enforcing them. “Rai, Atishi and other Delhi ministers only make empty promises, indulging in political bickering that has turned the Capital into a virtual gas chamber,” Yadav added.

Sachdeva, on the other hand, called it ‘shameful’ that Rai neither addressed stubble burning with the Punjab Government nor took action on road repairs with his government’s Public Works Department (PWD) and municipal corporation. He accused Rai of focusing on political theatrics by inspecting bus depots and halting a few interstate diesel buses instead of addressing the root causes of pollution.

The BJP leader also urged Chief Minister Atishi to direct Rai to focus on substantive actions to combat pollution rather than making “empty statements”.