Weather Today: Delhi’s average air quality index (AQI) Monday remained in the ‘poor’ category at 214. (Express photo: Prem Nath Pandey)
Weather forecast Today: The air quality in Delhi stood in ‘poor’ category on Tuesday, with agencies predicting a slip back into the ‘very poor’ and even ‘severe’ category in the next two days.
The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 204 at 10 am with PM2.5 pollutant hovering at 197 at Lodhi road and 239 at Delhi University area and 324 (very poor) at Chandni Chowk, according to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).
A discussion on air pollution and climate change is also scheduled to take place in the Lok Sabha Tuesday afternoon.
On the other hand, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy rainfall at isolated places over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal. Moderate to dense fog is very likely in isolated pockets over south Assam and
Meghalaya.
It was a sunny Tuesday morning in Delhi with the minimum temperature settling at 12 degrees Celsius, which is normal for this time of the season. The MeT department has forecast mainly clear sky in the day. The maximum temperature is expected to hover around 27 degrees Celsius. Relative humidity was 67 percent, at 8.30 AM, said an official of the department.
Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio has expressed concern over the rising levels of pollution in India's national capital through a post on Instagram. DiCaprio has often spoken about environment issues concerning India. In June, he shared similar posts on the acute water crisis in Tamil Nadu and the 65 metre-high trash mountain in Ghazipur in Delhi.
Addressing a session on environmental laws at the Global Law Conference held in Chandigarh University, Justice Anand Mohan, a judge in the Supreme Court of Nepal, said the rising pollution levels in New Delhi had led to concerns about whether “the polluted toxic air will flow to Nepal and particularly Kathmandu”. He further said, “The threat was diffused when the department of meteorology stated that the mountains should prevent it, but others of different opinion said, it actually depends on the direction that the winds take and their intensity.” Read More
Delhi-NCR witnessed one of the worst episodes of smog this year, with AQI hovering between 490 and 500. Schools were directed to remain shut in view of the rising pollution, and Delhi government’s odd-even scheme was also brought into force.
However, there was a respite on late Sunday evening as the AQI dropped to 198, which falls under “moderate” category. Experts said strong winds due to western disturbance has helped dispersed pollutants in Delhi-NCR and other parts of north India.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said there is no need to extend the odd-even scheme as the weather conditions have improved. The decision to not extend the scheme comes on the heels of Supreme Court coming down heavily on the Delhi government saying odd-even was ‘half-baked’ and despite its implementation, pollution levels were on the rise. The Delhi government, represented by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, told the top court that the scheme helps reduce pollution levels by five to 15 per cent and the air quality could be even better if no exemption is given under the scheme. Read More
The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change Secretary, C K Mishra, Monday held a high-level meeting with officials of multiple ministries and neighbouring states, wherein the Centre decided to continue with “stringent measures” to combat air pollution in Delhi-NCR. “We reviewed our action plan and decided that stringent measures will stay in place for the next 15 days. We might extend these measures till December 31. This includes preventing stubble burning in Haryana, Punjab and Western UP and controlling industrial emissions in Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Gurgaon. In Delhi, we will monitor 13 pollution hotspots closely. Read More
The brief improvement in Delhi-NCR’s air quality may start deteriorating Tuesday, with agencies predicting a slip back into the ‘very poor’ and even ‘severe’ category by Thursday. Taking heed of the warning, the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) Monday wrote to chief secretaries of all four NCR states to step up surveillance and enforcement to control local sources of pollution and crop residue burning. Read More
Welcome to our LIVE blog. The air quality in Delhi stood in ‘poor’ category on Tuesday, with agencies predicting a slip back into the ‘very poor’ and even ‘severe’ category in the next two days. Follow to get all the latest updates here!