India’s National Capital is currently experience severe air pollution and the citizens are complaining of deteriorating health. On Thursday, the level of air pollution slightly improved on Thursday as the air quality fell into to ‘very poor’ category with a thin layer of smog reducing visibility in several parts of Delhi.
According to the data of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded in Delhi was 379, categorised as ‘very poor, as of 8 am on Thursday.
As the waves of poor air quality continue to affects day-to-day lives, recent data from Google Trends show there has been a spike is searches of ‘Respiratory Diseases.’
According to the Interest Over Time data of Google Trends, ‘Respiratory Diseases’ was most searched on October 24 and there were multiples highs and lows in the subsequent days.
Over the past 7 days, as air quality continue to deteriorate, graph shows dramatic search patterns.
With respect to Interest by Subregion, people from Delhi searched ‘Respiratory Diseases’ the most followed by Goa, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
People also searched for Related Topics like Disease, Respiratory system, Respiratory disease – Condition, Cause – Medicine, System, Heart, Risk Factor, Fuel, Mouth, Academic Journal etc.
According to Google Trends, people also searched for Related Queries like national institute of tuberculosis and respiratory diseases new delhi, respiratory muscles, pubmed, types of respiratory diseases and respiratory problems.
As of 8 am, according to the data of the CPCB, the AQI measured at Chandani Chowk is 338, IGI Airport (T3) is 370, ITO is 355, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium is 354, RK Puram is 387, Okhla Phase 2 is 370, Patparganj is 381, Sonia Vihar is 394 and Aya Nagar is 359, categorized as ‘very poor’.
However, various places in Delhi are still in the cap of ‘severe’ category air pollution, as the AQI in Anand Vihar is 405, Ashok Vihar is 414, Bawana is 418, Dwarka Sector-8 is 401, Mundka is 413 and Wazirpur is 436. This situation has affected the rail movements in the region with several trains either getting late or rescheduled.
Earlier on Wednesday, Delhi Police directed social media and e-commerce platforms to immediately cease the online sale and delivery of firecrackers within the National Capital Territory (NCT) amid rising air pollution levels. According to an official statement, the directive comes in a bid to protect the health and well-being of citizens directly due to increasing pollution and to prevent sale of firecrackers through e-commerce platforms.
Moreover, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) activated Stage-IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), imposing restrictions like bans on truck entry and a halt to public construction projects.
