Delhi air pollution: Residents struggle to breathe as AQI remains severe for third day in a row

Delhi residents are struggling to breathe as the air quality in the national capital region was in the ‘severe’ category for the consecutive third day. According to the Central Pollution Control Board data, Delhi’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 408 at 9.30 am.

Every year, Delhi residents struggle with choking air around October and November owing to the rise in air pollution. On Saturday morning, the air quality was severe in Delhi-NCR. Noida’s AQI was 529, Gurugram’s jumped to 478, and near Dhirpur’s it was 534, according to news agency ANI.

On Friday, the Aam Aadmi Party government declared that primary schools will remain shut from Saturday and 50 per cent of its staff will work from home.

In addition to this, the Delhi government has also imposed the final stage of the Graded Response Action Plan. The plying of four-wheeled diesel light motor vehicles in the city and adjoining areas and the entry of trucks into the national capital region have been banned as part of anti-pollution measures under the final stage of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).

A recent survey conducted by LocalCircles stated that in every five families in the national capital region, one or more family members suffer from some pollution-related ailment or the other.

The survey also highlighted that the residents of Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad reported that their family members were ailing due to pollution, and reported symptoms like sore throat, cough, congestion in chest, blocked nose and burning eyes. Such cases have gone up by 70 per cent to 80 per cent in the last five days.

As per experts, senior citizens, who have weak lungs, are vulnerable to this severe air quality. Even children are also more susceptible due to fine PM2.5 particles that penetrate deep into lung passageways which affected people can’t breathe.

Blame game on harvest burning

As per the LocalCircles survey, Delhi residents said that air quality has been bad since Diwali, but in recent days it has risen alarmingly due to stubble burning post-harvest in Punjab.

On 4 November, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal with his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann by his side, said: “We (AAP) have our government in Punjab and we are responsible if ‘parali’ is being burnt there. Farmers are not responsible for it.”