Delhi wakes up to thick smog, air quality remains in 'severe' category

Delhi woke up to a thick blanket of smog on Sunday morning with air quality levels plunging to severe levels leaving residents grappling with poor visibility and health risks reported ANIThe dense haze caused by a mix of local pollution and the seasonal crop burning in neighbouring states choked the citys skies triggering widespread concerns over Delhis ongoing battle with air pollutionAccording to the Central Pollution Control Board CPCB the national capital recorded an Air Quality Index AQI at 428 as of 8 am placing it in the severe category reported ANIVisuals from around the New Delhi Railway Station show a thick layer of smog blanketing the entire areaLikewise drone visuals from the AIIMS area at 710 am show highrise buildings in the area covered with smog reducing visibility to the bare eyes reported ANIDrone shots from Mayur Vihar at 730 am show a smogfilled atmosphere engulfing the area as pollution levels continue to remain highIn Patparganj the AQI was recorded at 439 categorized as severe by the CPCBMeanwhile the Delhi airport took to its official handle to inform the flyers that lowvisibility procedures are currently underway reported ANILowvisibility procedures are in progress at the Delhi airport All flight operations are presently normal Passengers are to contact the airline concerned for updated information posted the handle on XAs the pollution level continues to remain high a thick froth of toxic foam primarily caused by untreated industrial effluents sewage discharge and high phosphate levels from detergents was observed in sections of the river near Kalindi Kunj and Okhla BarrageThe residents of Delhi continue to raise alarms as air quality levels in many areas remain in the severe category in multiple areasThe AQI for Anand Vihar was recorded at 457 Bawana at 471 CRRI Mathura Road at 471 DTU at 386 Dwarka Sector8 at 445 ITO at 411 Jahangirpuri at 466 Lodhi Road at 374 Mundka at 463 Narela 444 North Campus at 427 Punjabi bagh at 447 RK Puram at 434 Shadipur at 457 and Wazipur at 463 according to SAFARIndia System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research reported ANIThe Delhi government implemented a ban on BSIII petrol and BSIV diesel fourwheelers from plying under the Graded Response Action Plan GRAPIII in the national capital from Friday to combat deteriorating air quality reported ANIAs per the government order violators will face prosecution under Section 1941 of the Motor Vehicle Act 1988 and a Rs 20000 fineThis comes after the Commission for Air Quality Management CAQM ordered the implementation of the Graded Response Action Plan GRAPIII in DelhiNCR from Friday at 8 am to prevent further deterioration of air quality in the national capital region after the Air Quality Index AQI in Delhi worsened and reached the severe category reported ANIGRAP III Graded Response Action Plan measures to mitigate the effects of air pollution in Delhi NCR include intensifying the frequency of mechanised sweeping of roads daily water sprinkling along with dust suppressants before peak traffic hours on roads and right of ways including hotspots heavy traffic corridors and proper disposal of the collected dust in designated sites landfillsAdditionally all demolition works earthwork for excavation and filling including boring amp drilling works and any transportation of demolition waste are banned with the implementation of GRAP III measures to fight air pollutionThe Graded Response Action Plan GRAP for the National Capital Region NCR is classified into four different stages of adverse air quality in Delhi Stage I poor AQI 201300 Stage II very poor AQI 301400 Stage III severe AQI 401450 and Stage IV severe plus AQI gt450This year Stage III has been invoked much later than in 2023 when it was activated on November 2nd The action plan effective across the entire NCR will supplement ongoing StageI and StageII measures already in place reported ANIThe 11point action plan under Stage III includes increased road sweeping intensified water sprinkling with dust suppressants in hightraffic areas and enhanced public transport services with differential pricing to encourage offpeak travelWith inputs from ANI