Air quality at all of SAFAR’s centres remained “severe” and is expected to remain so on Thursday.
The National Air Quality Index also reported air quality in Delhi at “severe”, with PM 2.5 being the prominent pollutant.
Meanwhile, in Gurgaon a thick haze engulfed the city all through Wednesday, with officials confirming it was smog as opposed to the misconception that it could be fog.
“The concentration of PM 2.5 in the air has increased steadily over the last three days. Its prescribed standard is a reading of 60, but in the last 24 hours, between 6 pm on Tuesday and 6 pm on Wednesday, the average reading has been 445.86. In the 24 hours prior to that, the reading was 322.55,” said an official of the Haryana Pollution Control Board. “This gives a sense of the seriousness of the situation,” he added.
Govt cancels pollution meet following Sisodia’s detention
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Wednesday had to cancel a Cabinet meeting, which was scheduled to deliberate on measures to control air pollution, following the detention of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. The minister was detained by police while he was on his way to meet the family of an ex-serviceman who committed suicide over the issue of One Rank One Pension (OROP).
“We are having to postpone the Cabinet meeting. Why? Because the Centre has resorted to hooliganism,” said Kejriwal.
(Sourced from agencies, feature image courtesy:economictimes.indiatimes.com)
