Anand Vihar AQI Hits 999, Again. After Marginal Relief, Delhi Continues To Breathe Poison – News18

After slight improvement in smog conditions earlier this week, the situation has again turned red for Delhi-NCR region with AQI touching 999 in Anand Vihar. Despite the Supreme Court rap and to neighbouring states, Delhi continued to breathe poison as AQI stands in “severe” category.

Weather agency aqicn.org measured the air quality index in Delhi’s Anand Vihar at 999, while other parts of Delhi remained in “severe” condition.

Stop Stubble Burning: SC to Delhi, Punjab and Adjacent States

Amid air emergency, Supreme Court yesterday directed Punjab, Delhi and the other adjacent states to ensure that stubble burning is stopped. “We don’t know how you do it,” said the top court as it asked Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to stop crop fires.

“We do not care how you do it.. it must stop. Whether by sometimes foreful actions and sometimes by incentives,” Supreme Court said. A single judge bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul was hearing a petition on the increasing air pollution in Delhi.

‘Directions Regulating Firecrackers Meant For Entire Country, Not Just Delhi’: Supreme Court

Supreme Court on Tuesday made it clear that the directions regulating firecrackers are not just meant for Delhi-NCR but are applicable for the entire country.

The top court had earlier given directions against the use of barium and banned chemicals in firecrackers. In 2021, the Supreme Court had passed a slew of directions to ensure that banned chemicals are not used in crackers ahead of Diwali. The Apex Court had clarified there was no blanket ban on the use of firecrackers and only those fireworks which contain barium salts are prohibited.

Hearing an application seeking directions to Rajasthan to comply with the orders regarding ban on barium crackers, Justice AS Bopanna said “these days children don’t burst crackers, it is the adults…”

Saying that no fresh directions are needed for Rajasthan, the Court directed the state to take specific note of the previous orders and reiterated that its orders are binding on all states in the country.

Odd-even from Nov 13 in Delhi

Considering that the pollution is likely to go up post Diwali, the Delhi government on Monday decided to impose the odd-even rule for cars from November 13 to November 20.

The odd-even rule of Delhi government is a traffic curb under which private vehicles with registration numbers ending with an odd digit will be allowed on roads on odd dates and those with an even digit on even dates.

The air quality has been severe in Delhi and neighbouring areas such as Noida, Ghaziabad, Gururgram, Faridabad etc., for the past few days, with no respite being seen anytime soon amid stubble burning and upcoming Diwali festival, during which people are likely to burst crackers.

Gopal Rai, who has been blaming stubble burning in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana for the air pollution in Delhi, said on Monday, “It is unfortunate that the pollution of Greater Noida was more than Delhi yesterday. Forget about meetings by the central government, they have not even replied to the letter.”

Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai on Saturday, in a letter, asked central government to ban entry of polluting vehicles into the NCR, and asked the Centre to convene a meeting with the environment ministers’ of the states concerned.