Tourists turn their back on Delhi as air pollution reaches record levels

Rising pollution levels is an added problem for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is trying to reverse an economic slowdown as he seeks to lure investors to the South Asia nation

Business travelers and tourists are avoiding New Delhi, as air pollution in India’s capital reached record levels, travel agents said.

Booking inquiries for hotels and flights to New Delhi have slumped since the festival of Diwali on Oct. 27, said Sharat Dhall, chief operating officer of the business-to-consumer segment at Yatra Online Inc. Bursting of firecrackers as part of the festivities worsened pollution caused by farm stubble burning in areas around the capital city.

Business travelers are looking to reschedule their visits to a later date, Dhall said in an email, adding that tourists are preferring Himalayan hill stations and destinations in the state of Rajasthan, home to the Thar desert, over New Delhi, famous for the 12th-century Qutab Minar and the Red Fort, built in the 17th century.

Pollution levels in New Delhi surged to more than three times of what’s considered hazardous over the weekend, increasing the risk of stroke, heart disease and lung cancer. While both provincial and federal governments have taken steps, including limiting private vehicles usage and shuttering factories, they have been unable to stop farmers from burning crop stubble — smoke from which is the main reason for air becoming a lethal cocktail at this time of the year.

Bookings and travel searches for New Delhi from key international areas including Singapore, Thailand and Qatar have fallen 44 per cent, according to travel website Ixigo. On the other hand, bookings and queries from New Delhi to other destinations have increased 25 per cent, Ixigo said. Last-minute bookings from Delhi to other metros like Mumbai and Bangalore have also surged 20 per cent…

Read More: Delhi NCR Air Pollution 

Relief for Delhi-NCR as air quality improves to ‘very poor’ category

Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad too recorded ‘very poor’ overall air quality

In a major relief for the residents of Delhi-NCR, the air quality on Wednesday morning further improved. The air quality index in the national capital dropped from yesterday’s 365 to 356 at 6:30 am. The Ministry of Earth Sciences’ air quality monitor, SAFAR, said, “The AQI is back to ‘very poor’ category after rapidly recovering from ‘severe’ largely due to faster boundary layer winds (40 kmph).”

Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad too recorded ‘very poor’ overall air quality.

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. Above 500 is severe-plus emergency category.

The India Meteorological Department said winds gusting up to 25 kmph were flushing out pollutants faster.

“There are good chances of rains in northwest India on Wednesday night and Thursday due to a western disturbance. The precipitation will cover Delhi-NCR, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and western Uttar Pradesh,” head of IMD’s regional weather forecasting centre of Kuldeep Srivastava, said. Taking a grim view of the surge in pollution levels, the Supreme Court on Monday slammed authorities for failing to curb pollution in Delhi-NCR and said they have left people to die.

Passing a slew of other directions to prevent the rise in air pollution levels, it imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on anyone carrying out construction and demolition activity in Delhi-NCR, and a fine of Rs 5,000 on offenders involved in garbage or waste burning. The Bench said it had “no sympathy for farmers indulging in it (stubble burning) as they are putting lives of others at risk”…

Delhi pollution: AQI still in ‘severe’ category, Odd-even enters Day 2

The odd-even scheme, which kickstarted on Monday has entered Day 2 with only odd-numbered non-transport vehicles allowed on Delhi roads

Pollution levels in the national capital surged on Tuesday morning as the air quality remained in the ‘severe’ category. A day after high wind speed helped bring down pollution levels in the city, SAFAR, the government-run monitoring agency, said Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) was 411 at 7:00 am. Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad too recorded ‘severe’ overall air quality.

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.

Above 500 is severe-plus emergency category.

The odd-even scheme, which kickstarted on Monday has entered Day 2 with only odd-numbered non-transport vehicles allowed on Delhi roads. In the National Capital Region (NCR), Noida (493) and Gurugram (405), also breathed polluted air.

Taking a grim view of the surge in pollution levels, the Supreme Court yesterday slammed authorities for failing to curb pollution in Delhi-NCR and said they have left people to die. A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Deepak Gupta took serious note of crop burning in Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh and said it cannot go unabated every year.

“Can we survive in this atmosphere? This is not the way we can survive,” the bench said. The bench called the pollution in Delhi-NCR as atrocious and said no one is safe even inside homes. The Centre, in response said that the number of ‘good’ to ‘moderate’ days increased to 175 in 2019 against 157 in 2018. According to the Centre, the bursting of firecrackers during Diwali, stubble burning and adverse meteorology conditions exacerbated the pollution level in Delhi-NCR.

Delhi chokes as pollution levels remain ‘severe’ for second straight day

On Wednesday morning, the Delhi air quality index was 422 — a little worse than Tuesday’s AQI of 414 at 8 pm, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.

Delhi air pollution: There is no respite from severe air pollution in Delhi as air quality remained in the “severe” category on Wednesday morning. The air quality was similar to what it was on Tuesday, the day it slipped into the “severe” category in the city and the adjoining areas.

At 6 am, the city’s overall air quality index (AQI) was 422 — a little worse than Tuesday’s AQI of 414 at 8 pm, according to the Central Pollution Control Board. 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. Above 500 is severe-plus emergency category.

Delhi’s air quality took a hit after Diwali night due to a combination of firecracker emissions, stubble burning and unfavourable meteorological conditions.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on on Tuesday appealed “with folded hands” to Punjab and Haryana to take concrete steps against stubble burning to prevent the national capital from becoming a “gas chamber”.

His statement came after latest NASA images showed a drastic spurt in crop residue burning in the neighbouring states. The stubble plume from north-west regions has become one of the significant factors adversely affecting Delhi’s air quality.

Delhi’s air toxic, but these 5 Indian cities are even worse: WHO report

In May, the World Health Organisation said Delhi was the sixth-most polluted city in the country

That time of year when Delhi makes the news for its severely polluted air is back with a vengeance. On November 8, the day after Diwali, pollution in the city reached the “severe-plus emergency” category because of the widespread use of firecrackers. And while people in Delhi can testify to just how bad it gets, what’s even more surprising is that there are five other Indian cities that fare even worse when it comes to PM 2.5 levels.

PM 10 refers to particulate matter with a diameter below 10 μm; PM 2.5 refers to that with a diameter below 2.5 μm. PM 2.5 is generally considered more harmful since its smaller size enables it to enter the lungs and cause more damage than larger particles can.|Delhi Air Pollution 

According to a report released by the World Health Organisation in May this year, Kanpur, Faridabad, Varanasi, [BS]Gaya and Patna are even more polluted than Delhi. In the list of the 15 most polluted cities in the world, 14 are in India. Almost all of them lie in the northern states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar.

While Kanpur ranked at one in the WHO’s list, a Reuters report pointed out that the city has a hard time tracking air quality. “Every week a lung cancer patient walks in; earlier we would get one in three months,” Prem Singh, head of the department of medicine in Kanpur’s Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College, told Reuters.|Business Standard 

Choked morning in Delhi-NCR as air quality goes from bad to worse

In Delhi, the overall PM2.5 (particles in the air with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres) was recorded at 264 against the safe limit of 60

Latest News: Delhi was “gasping for breath” on Monday when air pollution dipped to “very poor”, prompting residents to tweet that it’s time to flee the city. The air quality index (AQI) in the morning was recorded at 374, which falls in the ‘very poor’ category, according to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).

In Delhi, the overall PM2.5 (particles in the air with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres) was recorded at 264 against the safe limit of 60. The PM2.5 also called “fine particulates,” can be a matter of more serious health concern than PM10.

Delhi Air Pollution

The PM10 level in Delhi stood at 374 against the safe limit of 100, as per SAFAR. An AQI of 0-100 is considered ‘Good+Satisfactory’, 101 to 200 ‘moderate’, 201 to 300 ‘poor’, 301 to 400 ‘very poor’ and 401 to 500 ‘severe’, as per SAFAR. “If significant stubble burning continues on Sunday and Monday in the NW (northwest) region of India then its impact is very likely over Delhi and AQI may reach the upper end of the very poor category.

“The northwest wind direction may bring the influence of biomass fire on Tuesday and Wednesday,” the IITM said. An official with the Centre-run System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) said despite moderate wind speed, the pollution in Delhi rose due to stubble burning from the neighbouring states.

Business Standard OR BS

Modi wants smog-free Delhi winter; new steps soon to tackle air pollution

The brief for the task force is to ensure that the winter of 2018 becomes pollution free. Remedial action, therefore, is likely in the next few months

Delhi air pollution: A package of measures to reduce air pollution levels significantly in the National Capital Region (NCR) around Delhi by the winter of 2018 is expected to be formulated soon and implemented within a specified time frame.

NCR covers the whole of the National Capital Territory-Delhi (NCT-Delhi) and certain districts of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, covering about 53,817 sq km.

A high-level task force, headed by Nripendra Misra, principal secretary to the prime minister, has been set up to evaluate the feasibility of these measures. The task force has the Cabinet secretary, secretaries of half a dozen ministries of the Union government, chief secretary of the Delhi government and a couple of environment experts as members.

The brief for the task force is to ensure that the winter of 2018 becomes pollution free. Remedial action, therefore, is likely in the next few months.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is understood to have advised the task force that air pollution level of the NCR should improve to levels that prevail in any city of the developed world.

Among the measures that are likely to be implemented by the task force are complete shutdown of the Badarpur thermal plant, de-sulphurisation of thermal plants in areas adjoining the NCR, like Dadri, opening up of the Eastern Peripheral Expressway from January 2018 and a ban on the import of pet coke.

READ FULL STORY :  SMOG FREE DELHI WINTER

As Delhi chokes, odd-even to be enforced again from November 13 to 17

Odd-numbered cars are allowed to run on odd dates while even-numbered cars can only run on even dates

 

 

The odd-even car rationing scheme will be enforced in Delhi for a five-day period from November 13, city Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said on Thursday.

The decision comes as air pollution levels spiked in the national capital.

Under the policy, private vehicles are allowed to run based on the last number of their licence plates.

Odd-numbered cars are allowed to run on odd dates while even-numbered cars can only run on even dates.

Last year, the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi Government implemented the alternate day travel for cars with odd and even number license plates.

The plan was put in place twice for 14 days each in January and April, respectively, to control the deteriorating air quality in Delhi NCR.

Living in a gas chamber: Delhi's air to worsen in coming days; schools shut

At the severe level, even healthy people will be affected while those who have existing diseases will be severely impacted

Delhi air pollution  hit a dangerous level on Tuesday, putting residents at risk, forcing the closure of schools, and bringing calls from doctors for the city’s half marathon to be canceled.

Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the city had once become a “gas chamber”. Schools for younger children were ordered shut on Wednesday and all outdoor activity at high schools suspended.
A thick fog that hung over the sprawling city worsened conditions. Residents complained of smarting eyes and irritation in the throat.

The air quality index, which measures the concentration of poisonous particulate matter in the air, hit the “severe” level of 451 on a scale where the maximum reading is 500 and where anything above 100 is considered unhealthy by the Central Pollution Control Board.

At the severe level, even healthy people will be affected while those who have existing diseases will be severely impacted, it said.

In some parts of Delhi, the air quality was so poor that it was beyond the maximum level, according to the US Embassy’s real-time air quality index. It stood at 999 for RK Puram area beyond which no readings are available.

That level is equal to smoking 50 cigarettes a day, Dr. Arvind Kumar, chairman for chest surgery at Sir Ganga Ram hospital, said.

“We are in a state of medical emergency, schools should be shut, we need to bring these levels down. We are all shortening our lives.”

The Indian Medical Association urged Delhi’s biggest running race, due on Nov. 19, to be called off to protect runners and volunteers from exposure to high levels of deadly particulate matter that lodge deep in the lungs.

It said the air quality is particularly poor early in the day when the race will be run.

The air quality index measures concentrations of PM 2.5, PM 10, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide among other indicators.

Emergency Measures

The air quality is likely to worsen in the next few days as a northwesterly wind is expected to bring toxic smoke from the neighboring states of Punjab and Haryana where farmers burn crop stubble before the new planting season.

Delhi’s deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said emergency measures such as banning the entry of trucks into the capital and suspension of construction activity will kick in, if the pollution level rose further....READ MORE

 

Smokeless Diwali: Delhi, there is something foul in the air, don’t make it worse

A ban is rarely a great solution, but we must recognize that no other agency is upholding our right to breath clean air.

economy news: Go outside and get some fresh air. Go for a walk, it will clear your mind.” Fresh air and a relaxing walk are simple pleasures unavailable to residents of Delhi/NCR. Walking, running or cycling here might cause more damage to your health than any good.

Why do you say this?

Because on an average day in Delhi/NCR PM2.5 pollution is between 150-400 micrograms per cubic metre. This means the ‘baseline’ or ‘everyday’ pollution in the NCR due to essential or routine economic activities, in and around Delhi, is 2 to 4 times above the danger mark. Transportation, factories, coal-fired power production, waste burning, unending construction work, slash and burn agriculture in neighbouring states, and local climate effects are the major reasons. This has been the case for the last 5-10 years. It is a problem because PM2.5 levels above 60-100 micrograms per cubic metre are considered unsafe by the WHO.

What does PM2.5 do?
Such poor air quality is a contributor to chronic year-long complaints of cough, sniffling, irritability in the eyes, headaches, fatigue, asthma, bronchitis, and skin allergies. Common ailments in Delhi/NCR. These high levels of PM2.5, over longer periods, increase the risk of serious breathing disorders, developmental disorders in children, cardiovascular issues, and neurological problems. Shocking, but not unexpected, is the fact that 40 percent of children in the NCR have critically low lung function. Almost every day in Delhi is an attack on our health that we regretfully ignore.

If there are so many factors, why are people focusing on air pollution due to Diwali firecrackers?

Last year air pollution (PM2.5 and PM10) levels in the NCR were 14-16 times above the safe limit on the day after Diwali. Such levels have never been recorded in an Indian city before. It was a public health emergency for Delhi/NCR. Testing for breathing disorders went up by 10-20 times. Schools were shut. The number of sick days increased dramatically. If regular days in Delhi are a dose of hazardous air, last November, the day after Diwali, was a quite simply poison.

We can handle 14-16 times pollution for one day of celebration, okay?

llution are ‘anti-human’. Doctors don’t know if our bodies can cope with such pollution. According to Dr Arvind Kumar, one of India’s lead chest surgeons,....Readmore…

SC firecracker ban: How it will impact Delhi air, shopkeepers this Diwali

While the decision might come as a relief for the residents of the region, shopkeepers and sellers are sure to feel the pinch

Delhiites might get to enjoy a relatively cleaner Diwali this year as the Supreme Court on Monday ruled that there will be no sale of firecrackers in Delhi and the National Capital Region during Diwali, as it restored a November 2016 order banning the sale and stocking of firecrackers there.

Will Delhi’s air get cleaner?

Diwali fireworks had lit up the skyline of Delhi on the night of October 30 last year, but darkness had descended the morning after as a dense blanket of smog turned the city into a chamber of noxious and cancer-causing pollutants.

With the Supreme Court banning the sale of firecrackers in the Delhi-NCR till November 1, can Delhiites breathe a sigh of relief?

(Read our full report oh how the SC order will affect Delhi’s air quality)

Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan welcomed the apex court’s order and urged people to abide by the SC guidelines and “give green Diwali and our environment a chance”.

A dark Diwali for shopkeepers

While for some this Diwali will be free of noise and smoke, for others such as Harjeet Singh and more than 1,000 big and small business owners in the capital, this festive season will be quite dark.

As reported earlier, left dumbfounded by the Supreme Court’s sudden ban on the sale of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR, Singh and several firecracker sellers like him have lost all hope of recovering their money.

(Read our full report on how the SC order has hit cracker sellers hard)

In the heart of one of the largest wholesale markets in the country, New Delhi’s Sadar Bazaar, more than 1,000 people involved with the firecracker industry are looking at loss of seasonal business as well as revenue of more than Rs 700 crore. The firecrackers market in Delhi-NCR is Rs 2,000 crore. | Readmore…