Pollution crisis: Delhi govt wants artificial rain, seeks PM's intervention; AQI still in 'severe+' zone

New Delhi | With the national capital witnessing another day of alarmingly high level of air pollution, the Delhi government on Tuesday pushed for inducing artificial rain over the city and sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention in effectively responding to the crisis that has affected normal life here.

Technically, Delhi's air quality improved slightly with the Air Quality Index dropping to 460 from 490 the previous day, but it is still in the severe-plus category.

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai urged the Centre to convene an emergency meeting to deal with the situation and approve inducing artificial rain over the national capital.

Out of the 32 air monitoring stations in the capital city, 23 reported Air Quality Index (AQI) above 450, which denotes the highest severe-plus category.

The 24-hour average AQI, recorded daily at 4 pm, stood at 460 on Tuesday, down from 494 on Monday. According to the Central Pollution Control Board, Monday's reading was the second-worst air quality recorded since AQI tracking began in 2015.

An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good,’ 51-100 ‘satisfactory,’ 101-200 ‘moderate,’ 201-300 ‘poor,’ 301-400 ‘very poor,’ 401-450 ‘severe,’ and above 450 ‘severe plus.’

At 4 pm on Tuesday, CPCB data recorded PM2.5 level at 307, which was the prominent pollutant. The PM2.5 particles with have a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less, roughly the width of a human hair.

These particles can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, posing significant health risks, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

Monitoring stations in areas such as Alipur, Anand Vihar, Ashok Vihar, Bawana, Dwarka Sector 8, IHBAS, Dilshad Garden, Jahangirpuri, Major Dhyan Chand Stadium, Mandir Marg, Mundka, Najafgarh, Narela, Nehru Nagar, Patparganj, Punjabi Bagh, Rohini, Siri Fort, and Wazirpur reported AQI levels in the "severe plus" category.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government directed all its hospitals to constitute teams of specialists for patients with respiratory ailments due to the severe air pollution, officials said.

The Delhi Health Department also asked the hospitals to monitor and report daily cases of respiratory ailments, including both outpatient (OPD) and inpatient (IPD) cases, and to promptly flag any unusual increase in the number of cases, it said.

According to the Centre's Decision Support System (DSS) for Air Quality Management, vehicular emissions contributed an estimated 16 per cent to Delhi's pollution on Tuesday. Data on contribution by stubble burning was not provided for the second consecutive day.

Amid the alarmingly high pollution levels in Delhi, Environment Minister Gopal Rai urged the Centre to convene an emergency meeting to formulate a response.

It is the moral responsibility of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in the matter, he said.

Addressing a press conference, Rai said the Centre has not acted on the Delhi government's repeated requests to allow artificial rain in the national capital.

On Tuesday, Rai said that he has written to Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav four times, seeking urgent clearances for cloud seeding to artificially induce rain that could help combat the escalating pollution crisis.

With a ban on construction activities as part of restrictions under the fourth stage of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), daily wage workers said their livelihoods would be badly affected.

Suman (45), a resident of Madhya Pradesh who currently works at a construction site in Delhi's Rohini, said, "If we sit at home, what will we eat? What will we feed our children?"

She recently renewed her labour card with the hope of receiving government aid but she said it has been futile.

"We don't have government jobs where salaries come automatically. We survive on daily earnings, and without work, we have nothing," said the mother of two.

Similarly, Rajesh Kumar, a 42-year-old labourer, said his family in his village in Bihar depends on the money he sends home.

"The ban on construction activities happens every year, but instead of solving the problem, the government creates more hurdles for people like us,"

On Monday, the Supreme Court directed all Delhi-NCR states to immediately set up teams to strictly enforce anti-pollution GRAP 4 restrictions, making it clear that the curbs cannot be lifted without its orders.

Several associations representing traders said footfall in the city's markets has dropped significantly due to the rising air pollution.

Rakesh Yadav, the president of the Sadar Bazar Trades Association, said there is approximately a 15 per cent decline in footfall in the Sadar market compared to usual days.

Sanjeev Mehra, the president of the Khan Market Traders Association, said there is a sharp 60 per cent drop in footfall since the implementation of Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) from Monday.

"Foot traffic in Khan Market has fallen drastically, and it's impacting traders, especially small shop owners. These measures are hitting the pockets of small traders," Mehra added.

The dangerous levels of pollution in Delhi and the national Capital Region have forced educational institutions to shun offline classes.

After Delhi University and JNU, Jamia Millia Islamia also announced to shift to online classes as air quality deteriorated.

Delhi's neighbouring Ghaziabad recorded the AQI at 434, followed by Bahadurgarh (416), Gurugram (402), Hajipur (404), and Hapur (419) also remained in the severe category.

Mahesh Palawat, Vice President of Meteorology and Climate Change at Skymet Weather, said that until wind speeds increase, AQI is unlikely to see significant improvement.

Wind and rain can help reduce the pollution levels maybe in the next two to three days, he said.