Delhi or Mumbai: Which City Fares Better on Air Quality? Check List of Most Polluted Cities in India

Delhi and its neighbouring areas once again topped the chart of most polluted cities in the country with the dip in temperatures across north India and stubble burning in Punjab.

Greater Noida (354), Faridabad (322), Delhi (313), and Noida (304) were among the most polluted cities in the country, as per the daily Air Quality Index (AQI) Sunday bulletin of Central Pollution Control Board, a statutory organization under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Delhi’s air quality starts deteriorating every year from October due to several factors, including stubble burning in Punjab and other areas and a drop in temperatures, and reaches hazardous levels around Diwali.

The data, released at 4 pm every day by the CPCB, shows that the air quality continues to deteriorate in India’s financial capital which beat Delhi in terms of AQI on some occasions this week, a phenomenon that came as a surprise to many people.

An AQI between 0-50 is considered “good”, 51-100 “satisfactory”, 101-200 “moderate”, 201-300 “poor”, 301-400 “very poor” and 401-500 “severe”.

Mumbai AQI’s was at 172 while that of Navi Mumbai’s at 191.

Measures Under GRAP ‘Stage II’ Invoked in NCR

The Centre’s air quality panel– the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR & Adjoining Areas (CAQM)– on Saturday directed authorities in the National Capital Region to increase parking fees to discourage private transport and enhance the services of CNG or electric buses and metro trains. The action comes as part of ‘Stage II’ of the central government’s pollution control plan known as the ‘Graded Response Action Plan’ (GRAP), which is implemented in the Delhi-NCR to combat air pollution during the winter season.

At a meeting to review the air quality situation in the Delhi-NCR, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), a statutory body responsible for proactively implementing GRAP, said forecasts by the India Meteorological Department and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology suggest Delhi’s overall air quality is likely to dip and enter the ‘very poor’ category on October 23 and 24, owing to unfavourable meteorological and climatic conditions. Delhi’s 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 248 on Saturday.

The panel therefore decided to invoke the measures under Stage II of GRAP in the entire NCR in addition to steps already taken under Stage I.

GRAP categorises actions into four stages: Stage I ‘Poor’ (AQI 201-300); Stage II ‘Very Poor’ (AQI 301-400); Stage III ‘Severe’ (AQI 401-450); and Stage IV ‘Severe Plus’ (AQI >450).

Stage I mandates the suspension of work at private construction and demolition projects with a plot size equal to or exceeding 500 square metres that are not registered on the state government’s portal for remote monitoring of dust mitigation measures. Stage II measures involve increasing parking fees to discourage private transport and enhancing CNG or electric bus and metro services by introducing additional fleets and increasing service frequency.

BMC Plans to Halt Construction, Deploys Mist Machines

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has warned that it would ban construction activities, including private and government projects, if dust and air pollution control measures are not implemented. The BMC is slated to come up with a detailed guideline in this regard on October 23.

India’s richest civic body deployed mist machines at various locations, including Worli Sea Face, Haji Ali, Peddar Road, Swarajya Bhoomi (Girgaon Chowpatty), Nariman Point, Fashion Street, Badhwar Park, and the World Trade Center to bring down pollution levels.

WHAT IS MAKING MUMBAI’S AIR WORSE?

Officials have blamed a blanket of mist which enveloped Mumbai for the last three to four days as the reason behind air quality plummeting in India’s financial capital.

Mumbai’s guardian minister Deepak Kesarkar had earlier claimed that ongoing works of development projects such as the metro were causing dust pollution in the city and asserted it was not a “chemical pollution”.

Works of metro, bridges as well as real estate projects are going on in the city, he said.

An India Meteorological Department (IMD) scientist has said there is an availability of moisture and anti-cyclonic wind circulation which does not allow the wind to ascend. The moisture gets stuck in the air due to it, said IMD scientist Sushma Nair.

(With PTI inputs)