No respite for residents as air quality remains `poor` in Noida, Ghaziabad, `very poor` in Delhi

New Delhi: The air quality index (AQI) remained in the 'poor' category in Noida and Ghaziabad and 'very poor' in Delhi on Tuesday (December 7, 2021) morning.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board, the AQI in Noida's Sector 125 was at 215 at 7:00 AM. While Sector 1 saw an air quality index of 272, Sector 116 recorded an AQI of 251. In Sector 62, the AQI was at 270.

In Ghaziabad, the air quality index was at 276 in Indirapuram, 265 in Sanjay Nagar and 281 in Vasundhara at 7:00 AM.

According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), Delhi recorded an overall AQI of 314 at 7:30 AM.

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', and 401 and 500 'severe'.

The Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality monitoring agency SAFAR had also said on Monday that a moderate wind speed is likely over the next two days but the minimum temperature is likely to drop in the national capital.

"The net effect is that the air quality will remain within the upper-end of the poor category or the lower-end of the very poor category," it had said.

SC refuses urgent listing of plea seeking to vacate ban on construction activities of non-commercial units

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Monday has refused urgent listing of an application seeking direction to vacate the ban on construction activities of residential houses, apartments, small units and other non-commercial units in the national capital region.

Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for Developers and Builders Forum, mentioned the matter for urgent listing before the Bench headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana.

Singh said, "We never asked for a ban on construction. This should be vacated. The air quality index (AQI) is low today. Thousands of crores are being lost everyday."

In reply, the CJI told Singh that let the government take a call on the issue. 

The application filed by Developers and Builders Forum in the air pollution case had said that if the 'Central Vista' projects, which causes large scale pollution in the area, are allowed to continue as projects of 'national importance', then there is no justification to ban the projects of builders engaged in non-commercial construction and which are not causing any pollution.

'Flying squads' inspect 576 sites in Delhi-NCR

As many as 576 sites have been reportedly inspected so far by the 'flying squads' constituted by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to ensure compliance with the panel's directions to control air pollution. During the inspection, the 'flying squads' have reportedly identified 111 units for immediate closure which include 28 industrial sites, 42 construction and demolition sites and 41 sites found using diesel generator sets.

This is noteworthy that the CAQM had on Sunday constituted 40 flying squads to inspect and monitor the compliance of the panel's directions to control air pollution in Delhi-NCR.

A few days earlier it had constituted a five-member Enforcement Task Force (ETF) to monitor and supervise the implementation of its directions through inspection teams or flying squads.

The ETF has been holding exhaustive review meetings with the 40 flying squads.

Twelve inspection teams each have been constituted for the NCR districts of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi, while four teams have been deputed in the national capital region (NCR) districts of Rajasthan.

(With agency inputs)