Layer of fog engulfs national capital; AQI drops to 454 in Delhi's Anand Vihar area
Oct 20, 2024
New Delhi [India], October 20 : A layer of fog engulfs parts of the national capital as air pollution has been on constant rise. The AQI at Anand Vihar area of Delhi has dropped to 454 recorded at 8:30 am, putting it under the 'Severe' category.
The AQI at Dwarka, sector-8, has fallen to 311 at 8:30 am, marked under the 'Very Poor' category.
The AQI at ITO in the national capital stood at 232 at 8:30 am, marked under the 'Poor' category.
Jahangirpuri has recorded AQI at the mark of 350 at 8:30 am, putting it under the 'Very Poor' category.
The AQI has been recorded at 254 at Nehru Park and surrounding areas, marked under the 'Poor' category. 
"The weather is cold in Delhi and pollution has increased... People should wear masks as the pollution has increased in the national capital," said a Delhi resident.
Notably, as per the Central Pollution Control Board, the AQI, when marked under the 'Severe' category, can possibly affect healthy people and seriously impact those with existing diseases. AQI, when under the 'Poor' category, can cause breathing discomfort to most people on prolonged exposure, whereas, when under the 'Very Poor' category, it can cause respiratory illness on prolonged exposure.
With the rise in pollution level, toxic foam has been evidently visible on the Yamuna River in the Kalindi Kunj area of Delhi for the last few days.
Earlier on Saturday, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla reached Yamuna bank in the Kalindi Kunj area and launched a blistering attack against the Aam Aadmi Party, saying that it is the poisonous politics of Arvind Kejriwal that has made the water and air in the national capital poisonous. He further challenged Kejriwal to come along with his party's leaders and take a dip in the Yamuna River.
Poonawalla said that the Yamuna water has turned into poison. Arvind Kejriwal claimed that he would clean Yamuna till 2025. They previously said 2020; then they claimed 2025. Now if the situation is such before Chhath Puja, the women who will come here will have to suffer so many diseases. Yamuna River has been polluted because the fund that was allocated for the cleaning of Yamuna River has been spent by Arvind Kejriwal for advertisements and on himself.
Countering the BJP, AAP leader and Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai hit out at the BJP for not taking adequate steps to resolve the air pollution. On the deteriorating Air Quality Index in the National Capital, Rai said that collective efforts are required to tackle the crisis.
Rai said that all the governments of the BJP in the states and the centre are sleeping. The pollution is increasing and the BJP is not ready to do anything. There is a BJP government in UP, Haryana and Rajasthan; they are sleeping and are inactive. There is the BJP in the centre; they are sleeping... No one is questioning them and on the other hand, the BJP leaders are into gimmicks... Pollution is a serious problem. All of us have to work together in cooperation with each other.
