As the air quality in the national capital deteriorated severely, a Supreme Court-mandated panel on Friday declared a public health emergency in the Delhi-NCR region and banned construction activity till November 5.
As pollution level in the region entered the “severe plus” category, the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority also banned the bursting of crackers during the winter season.
The air quality in Delhi-NCR deteriorated further Thursday night and is now at the severe plus level, EPCA chairperson Bhure Lal said in a letter to the chief secretaries of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi.
“We have to take this as a public health emergency as air pollution will have an adverse health impact on all, particularly our children,” he said in the letter.
Earlier on Friday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal distributed breathing masks to schoolchildren and urged the people to protect themselves from the toxic air.
Kejriwal blamed Haryana and Punjab governments for Delhi’s deteriorating air quality. He said that Delhi has turned into a “gas chamber” due to smoke from crop burning in the neighbouring states.
Meanwhile, according to SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research) India, the Air Quality Index (AQI) docked at 412 in Delhi which falls in the “very severe” category.
According to the data, the contribution of stubble burning to the haze and air pollution in Delhi-NCR was 35 per cent on Wednesday, it was estimated to be 24 per cent on Thursday and is likely to be 25 per cent on Friday.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal earlier on Tuesday appealed “with folded hands” to Punjab and Haryana to take concrete steps against stubble burning to prevent the national capital from turning into a “gas chamber”.