Heena Sharma Blog

  Delhi's air quality remained in the 'poor' category on Friday, as per System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecasted a maximum temperature of 16 degrees Celsius and a minimum temperature of 3 degrees Celsius in the national capital today. The overall air quality of the national capital was recorded at 235 at around 8:15 am while the AQI in various parts of the city remained in the 'poor' category. According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research's (SAFAR) prediction yesterday, cold day conditions are likely to slow down after that. Better ventilation conditions are likely to continue for the next two days and likely to continue for the next two days and likely to decrease thereafter, as per SAFAR. Read More

Air quality in Delhi and nearby areas on Tuesday remained in the "poor" category as winds speed dipped. The air quality in Delhi-NCR is expected to remain in the "moderate" and "poor" categories for the next two days. At 9:30 am, Delhi's overall Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 218 as compared to Monday's AQI of 215. An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered "poor", 301-400 "very poor" and 401-500 severe". The concentration of particlate matter (PM) 2.5 was at 96 while the PM10 level was recorded at 154. However, weather experts said, pollution levels are likely to enter the 'severe' zone again on Thursday due to a gradual dip in wind speed over the next two-three days. Neighbouring Ghaziabad (256), Greater Noida (218), Noida (227) recorded their air quality in the 'poor' category, while Gurgaon's AQI (138) remained in the 'moderate' category for the second consecutive day...

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said there is no need of the odd-even road rationing scheme now as the pollution levels have come down. The Delhi government brought the scheme into effect from November 4 as the city's air quality plunged into the "severe" category. The scheme concluded on November 15 with Kejriwal saying it could be extended if required. He had said that a final decision on extension will be taken on Monday. "The sky is clear now, there is no need of it (scheme)", he said in a press conference. Over 5,000 violators of the rule were fined with Rs 4,000 each during the scheme. The air quality in Delhi improved marginally on Monday but remained in the "poor" category for the second consecutive day. At 9 am on Monday, the air quality index (AQI) in the national capital stood at 207 against an AQI of 254 at the same time on Sunday. Read More

There seems to be no end to the woes of people residing in Delhi and other parts of north India. On Monday morning, Delhi air quality was in 'severe-plus emergency' category. SAFAR, the government-run air quality monitoring and weather forecasting agency, said Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) was 708 at 6:30 am, which is 14 times the safe level of 0-50.. Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad also saw their air quality in the severe-plus emergency overall category. NASA satellite imagery showed vast swathes of the northern plains, covering Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, blanketed under a smoky haze. Weather experts said any significant improvement in the situation is highly unlikely unless there is rainfall, which may occur on November 7 and 8 To tackle this, the odd-even scheme kick started today, with only even-numbered non-transport vehicles allowed on Delhi roads on the first day of the exercise. The impact of the scheme remains to be seen. The third...

Air pollution, both outside and inside homes, is a silent and deadly killer responsible for the premature deaths of seven million people each year, including 600,000 children, according to a UN Special Rapporteur on environment and human rights. David Boyd, an associate professor at the University of British Columbia in Canada, said that over six billion people, one-third of them children, are regularly inhaling air so polluted that it puts their life, health and well-being at risk. Every hour, 800 people are dying, many after years of suffering from cancer, respiratory illnesses or heart disease directly caused by breathing bad air. Air pollutants are everywhere, largely caused by burning of fossil fuels for electricity, transportation, and heating, as well as from industrial activities, poor waste management and agricultural practice. Women and children, who in many less wealthy countries spend a lot of time at home, are disproportionally affected by indoor air pollutio...

Dense fog enveloped several parts of the national capital, leading to disruption in flight operations at the Indira Gandhi International Airport . Arrivals and departures have largely been put on hold at the IGI airport. Two flights were also diverted between 5.30 AM and 8.30 AM. "Flight operations have largely been put on hold. Very few aircraft are departing and that too on the basis of their size, visibility and ATC (air traffic control) clearance for taking off," an airport official said. According to the official, departures were completely put on hold from 5.30 AM to 7 AM and arrivals happened only intermittently in between 6 AM to 7.20 AM. Departures were not allowed even after 7 AM due to dense fog. One of the flights diverted from the IGI airport was coming from Singapore. It was diverted to Kolkata, he said. Read More Business Standard

For the third consecutive day, the air quality in the national capital was in the severe category on Tuesday. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, the overall air quality index (AQI) in the national capital on New Year's Day was 404, while the Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting (SAFAR) recorded an AQI of 405, both of which are under the 'severe' category. Nineteen areas in Delhi recorded 'severe' pollution, while 14 witnessed 'very poor' air quality, the CPCB data showed. Ghaziabad and Noida recorded 'severe' air quality, while in Faridabad and Gurgaon recorded it was in the 'very poor' category. The overall PM2.5 level (fine particulate matter in the air with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometer) was recorded at 280 and the PM10 level at 465 in Delhi, the CPCB said. The SAFAR has said the air quality would improve slightly "provided that no additional local emi...

A thick blanket of haze continued to engulf the national capital on Friday, experts warned that the air quality is likely to worsen further as the pollution level entered the "severe-plus emergency" category, or 11 times the permissible limit, due to rampant bursting of toxic firecrackers on Diwali , in violation of a Supreme Court order. The Supreme Court's firecracker ban on Diwali was violated with impunity across Delhi and NCR on Diwali with people bursting crackers till late into the night leading to a thick haze on Thursday morning and air quality dipping six times from the normal. As a result of smoke from the firecrackers, the overall AQI in Delhi jumped to 422 which falls in the severe category, according to the data by SAFAR. The PM2.5 (particles in the air with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres) and PM10 concentrations touched 492 and 618 respectively, both in the severe category, according to SAFAR data. An AQI between 0 and 50 is considere...

In its effort to promote pollution-free public transport, the Delhi government conducted a trial run of its low-floor electric bus and said it is in the process of procuring e-buses to ply on roads by 2019. The 33-seat air-conditioned low-floor buses come with added safety features such as four CCTV cameras and a panic button for Delhi commuters. The trial run was flagged off by Transport Minister, Kailash Gahlot and Commissioner of Transport, Varsha Joshi in the presence of senior officials of the department. During the three-month trial, the e-bus will make trips between Ambedkar Nagar and Inderpuri to test its operational feasibility on different road conditions. The manufacturers claim that the bus may run for over 150-200 km after a full charge within 30 minutes. Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) has been appointed as the project consultant and is responsible for the procurement of e-buses. They are manufactured by PMI Electro Mobility Sol...