New Delhi: Delhi’s air quality deteriorated further on Monday as the value of air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 390, dangerously close to “severe” category, on a scale of 500.
The air quality became worse a day after Sri Lankan cricketers took to the field here wearing anti-pollution masks.
The concentration of ultra fine pollutants in the air increased on Monday as both PM (particulate matter) 2.5 and PM 10 was recorded in the ‘very poor’ category at 218 and 357 microgram per cubic metre (µg/m3) respectively against their safe limits of 60 and 100 µg/m3.
PM 2.5 and PM 10 are ultrafine particulates which remain suspended in the air and are capable of making their way into human lungs and blood tissues, increasing the risk of heart and lung diseases. The air quality becomes ‘severe’ when the index touches 400.
Meanwhile, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday slammed authorities on holding the India-Sri Lanka cricket match despite bad air quality. It came down heavily on the Delhi government for not filing a comprehensive action plan on ways to deal with severe air pollution in the city.
A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar took exception over the failure of the AAP government in filing the report despite its specific order. During the hearing, the Delhi government said it needed more time to file the action-plan as the chief secretary and environment secretary have recently been changed.
The tribunal, however, directed the government to file the report within the next 48 hours.
“Where is your action plan? Why have you not submitted it? What can we do if you keep on changing everybody? It’s not our problem if people don’t want to stick to you. You keep on doing meetings but tell us of a single action or step you have taken in the last four days to combat air pollution,” the bench said.
It said that the pollution in the city has already reached alarming levels, yet the government was adopting a “lackadaisical” approach in dealing with the situation.
“Every newspaper has been carrying headlines that the air pollution was going to be higher this week. Still you took no action. Even the players were playing the match wearing masks. You should have not held the match if the air quality was so bad. Are people of Delhi supposed to bear this?” the bench said.
