Delhi air turns 'severe'

Going primarily by the ability to have a walk session during morning in last two days in Delhi is a testament that something is right being done this festive season. Intuitively observing, the number of firecrackers burning has gone down substantially in the past two years. Critically, the green Diwali initiative in schools is working wonderfully well with most children staying away and interest fading. There are clear signs that air quality will remain better than last two years. Odd-even scheme and free public transport for ladies from next week may also contribute minutely in controlling the vehicular pollution. Media reports quoting high AQI may well be the regions affected most by crop burning rather than firecracker burning. What is worrying however is that due to wind change, the stubble burning incidents may rise in the coming days. Nevertheless, a change has been made in thinking and this cultural change is welcome for the benefits of future generations.

In Delhi, poor quality air irreversibly damages the lungs of 2.2 million or 50 percent of all children. India's Ministry of Earth Sciences published a research paper in October 2019 attributing almost 41% of PM2.5 air pollution in Delhi to vehicular emissions, 21.5% to dust and 18% to industries.

Today when I woke up, I knew the environment would not be the same in Delhi as it was yesterday. But I had little hope in my mind that situation won’t be that bad after events like “only green firecrackers” and other mega laser shows organised by government. But my apprehension came to be true as soon as I saw the layer of haze enveloping the city, (through video call by my wife) since I was in Bangalore. According to the Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality monitor, SAFAR, levels of PM 2.5 — tiny particulate matter of diameter 2.5 or less than 2.5 microns that can enter deep into the lungs — reached as high as 735 at Delhi University. City's air quality on Monday plummeted to the "severe" category for the first time. Air quality index stood at 463 at 11.30 am today, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR). AQI between 0-50 is considered "good", 51-100 "satisfactory", 101-200 "moderate", 201-300 "poor", 301-400 "very poor", and 401-500 "severe" Above 500 is "severe-plus emergency" category. I seriously wish we don’t degrade more. Writing and Reading this sort of post won’t help. Implementation is important and it starts with one person i.e I .