Air quality 'poor' in Delhi, Govt shares NASA images of crop burning

New Delhi, Oct 16: As the air quality worsoned, the Delhi government on Tuesday shared NASA satellite images depicting "largescale stubble burning" in the national capital and its neighbouring areas.

Though stubble burning, a post-harvest practice aimed at clearing fields is banned, it is still practiced in many parts of North India.

Taking note of an English daily, National Green Tribunal has asked Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab to depute a person each to report daily on air pollution due to stubble burning. The green tribunal observed that the worsening air quality is causing fatal diseases to people in Delhi-NCR.

The report states that crop burning shoots up carbon dioxide levels in the air by 70 per cent and there is a need to sensitise farmers about air pollution.

The NGT bench, headed by its chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel also expressed concern that equipment are yet not made available to farmers.

News agency PTI reported the overall air quality index (AQI) of the region as hoving around 275 at 6:30 pm on Tuesday, while the neighbouring regions of Ghaziabad, Greater Noida and Loni Dehat inched past the 300 mark.

An AQI ranging from 0 to 50 is considered 'good'; 51 to 100 is 'satisfactory'; 101 to 200 is 'moderate'; 201 to 300 is 'poor'; 301 to 400 is 'very poor', and 401 to 500 is 'severe'.

The national capital banned generator sets, barring those being used in essential and emergency services.

This is the first time that the ban on gen-sets has been extended to NCR cities of Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida, Faridabad, Sonepat, Panipat and Bahadurgarh.

The Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), in a report, said, "Delhi''s overall air quality is in the higher end of the ''poor'' category. It touched the ''very poor'' category for a brief period on Monday night."

The Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) issued a health advisory, asking people to reduce heavy exertion.

"People with heart or kind diseases and children should avoid longer and heavy exertion. Everyone may experience health effects, significant increase in respiratory problems," according to the advisory.