Urgent Action Needed: Air Quality Crisis in Delhi, Mumbai, and Haryana

The Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi remained in the ‘very poor’ category at 370 on Wednesday morning, a decline from 359 on Tuesday evening. This marks the fifth consecutive day that the air quality in the national capital has been in this range. Parts of Delhi, including Anand Vihar, Bawana, and Rohini, have reached the ‘severe’ category, as per reports from PTI.

Data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) revealed that Mumbai’s AQI was at 168 on Wednesday morning, classifying it as ‘moderate’. Meanwhile, Jind’s air quality in Haryana worsened to ‘severe’ on Tuesday.

Due to the deteriorating air quality in Delhi and Mumbai, it has been decided that there will be no fireworks display during the World Cup matches in these cities to prevent adding to the pollution levels. The Bombay High Court also addressed Mumbai’s air quality concerns on the same day.

In response to the pollution crisis, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai stated that the government is closely monitoring the situation and will take necessary actions. The 24-hour average AQI in Delhi was 359 yesterday, the highest this season so far.

The air quality in both Delhi and Mumbai is expected to remain ‘very poor’ for the next few days, according to the Centre’s Air Quality Early Warning System. In Mumbai, the highest AQI was recorded at Mulund with 235, while the best AQI was 71 at Andheri East’s Chakala station.

Other towns in Haryana, including Rohtak, Karnal, Kaithal, Bhiwani, and Bahadurgarh, also experienced ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ air quality due to ongoing paddy harvesting. The AQI monitoring chart categorizes AQI levels as ‘good’, ‘satisfactory’, ‘moderate’, ‘poor’, ‘very poor’, and ‘severe’.