India: Delhi becomes 'gas chamber' as AQI surges to 'severe' for first time this season
New Delhi severe AQI
The air quality of India's capital region, Delhi turned 'severe' for the first time this season on Wednesday (Nov 13) with 30 of the 36 monitoring stations in Delhi reporting air quality in the 'severe' category, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
At 4:00 pm (local time), Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) soared to 418, a drastic jump from Tuesday's 334 at the same time. Earlier, at 9:00 am, the AQI had already reached 366, as reported by CPCB data. Residents of Delhi, along with nearby areas like Noida, Ghaziabad, and Gurugram, woke up to thick smog that reduced visibility to nearly zero.
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', 401 and 450 'severe' and above 450 'severe plus'.
Delhi surpassed the Pakistani city of Lahore, to become the world’s most polluted city, as per live rankings by Swiss group IQAir, with an AQI that crossed 1000, classified as “hazardous.”
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BJP urges AAP to close all schools up to Class 5
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday urged the Delhi government to close all schools up to Class 5, citing concerns for children’s health. Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva slammed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, saying that the city had become a "gas chamber" due to extreme pollution.
"Delhi has become a gas chamber where everyone is coughing and complaining of trouble in breathing," he said.
Addressing a press conference, Sachdeva accused the Delhi government of failing to control pollution levels, pointing out that PM 2.5 levels had surpassed 400 and PM 10 levels had exceeded 1,000, as reported by news agency PTI.
Sachdeva also pointed out the lack of government-run clinics providing medication to counter the adverse effects of pollution on public health. He urged the Delhi government to take immediate action to make necessary medicines available to help residents cope with pollution.
(With inputs from agencies)