NEW DELHI: Delhi continued to reel under high pollution levels on Friday, with the city’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 389 in the ‘very poor’ category at 8 am, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).Several areas in the national capital reported AQI levels in the ‘severe’ category. IIT Delhi and Rohini recorded an AQI of 474 each, followed by Punjabi Bagh at 465, RK Puram at 443, ITO at 422, Firoz Shah Road at 420 and India Gate at 403, according to CPCB data.Meanwhile, municipal authorities deployed truck-mounted water sprinklers around India Gate to carry out water sprinkling operations under Stage II of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).Other areas also reported high pollution levels. Anand Vihar and Akshardham recorded an AQI of 359, while IGI Airport Terminal 3 registered 385. The AQI stood at 393 in Aya Nagar and 391 in Chandni Chowk.According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Delhi recorded a minimum morning temperature of 17.8°C, with skies remaining mainly clear. The weather department has forecast shallow fog over the next four days, followed by fog or mist during early morning hours on November 10 and 11.Residents continued to report discomfort due to the deteriorating air quality. A local resident, Sarvesh, said the pollution had made breathing difficult and was causing irritation in the eyes.“It’s causing a lot of problems. As you can see, it’s morning, and there isn’t much traffic, but because of the pollution, it’s hard to breathe, and I’m feeling anxious. There’s a lot of smog, making it feel like the middle of January. So, there are a lot of issues, like a burning sensation in the eyes,” he said.Another local, Nemichand Sharma, said that the crisis feels like the predictable consequence of unchecked urbanisation and administrative apathy.“I am seventy-one years old now. And ever since Delhi has developed, the progress and development in the name of development has brought about a huge increase in pollution. They have been given a free pass: wherever dirt is going to spread, just let it spread. Do whatever you want. And every day, instead of showing the pollution from Akshardham and solving the problem, governments are doing nothing with all their machinery except making money in the name of pollution. There is no ground-level work to end pollution,” he said.Earlier on Thursday, Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa accused Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann of misleading people over paddy harvesting and stubble burning. Sirsa said stubble burning in Punjab had contributed significantly to the deteriorating air quality in the national capital.Addressing the media at the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) in Shastri Park, Sirsa claimed that 77% of the stubble had already been burnt, citing data from the Punjab government.“Yesterday, Bhagwant Mann held a press conference and falsely claimed that the harvesting of paddy has not yet begun; however, according to the data provided by his own government, 77 per cent of the stubble (parali) has already been burnt,” he said.(With Agency Inputs)
