Delhi Minister releases NASA images of stubble burning
New Delhi, Oct 18: Environment Minister Imran Hussain on Wednesday released NASA satellite's recent images of north India which showed stubble burning at "dangerous levels".
"It is high time that the crop residue burning in the fields be immediately halted, failing which a serious health hazard awaits entire northern India," he said in a statement.
Last week, Hussain had released photographs of stubble burning across the Delhi-Chandigarh National Highway.
Also Read | Delhi air quality deteriorates as stubble burning begins
Delhi's air quality for the first time this season deteriorated to the "very poor" category on Wednesday, with several areas in the national capital nearing severe levels of pollution, according to the authorities.
The Supreme Court-empowered Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) has already imposed since Monday the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), which prescribes a set of measures to curb air pollution, after Delhi's air quality deteriorated to "poor" a few days back.
The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi was recorded at 315 Wednesday, according to the Centre-run System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research.
An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor" and 401 and 500 "severe".
(with PTI inputs)
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