It is the time of the year when AQI data shows us the grim reality of air emergency. Major Indian cities are under the blanket of polluted air. Mumbai and Delhi, two top metropolitan cities, have air quality worsening with every passing day.
Major Indian cities are under the blanket of polluted air. Mumbai and Delhi, two top metropolitan cities, have air quality worsening with every passing day.
While Delhi blames its neighbouring cities for polluting the air by burning farms, Mumbai’s vehicular traffic could have resulted in its current situation.
An official data was released on Monday which stated that Haryana has recorded 75 new incidents of stubble burning on Sunday. It has registered a 435% hike in the number of farm fires
On Saturday, 14 cases of farm fires were recorded, said the Haryana Space Applications Centre.
The data mentions Fatehbad district as the highest farm fire cases (180) followed by Kaithal (151), Ambala (147), Jind (132), Kurukshetra (120), Yamunanagar (68), Hisar (61), Karnal (61 ), Sonepat (54), Panipat (20), Jhajjar (5 ) and Faridabad (3).
Mumbai on the other hand has also deteriorated quality of air. The Bombay high court has taken suo moto cognisance of the deteriorating air quality in the city and has directed the Centre, the state, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and the Central Pollution Control board to draft their replies by November 6.
Delhi has had a fall in the air quality in the past few days. The air quality has constantly deteriorated and stayed in the “very poor” category.
On the very same day that the Bombay High Court took note of Mumbai’s worsening air quality, the Indian cricket board made an announcement that no fireworks will be used in the upcoming World Cup matches that are to take place in Mumbai and Delhi.
The BCCI made the decision in the light of rising pollution and to make sure that they do not add to the pollution level.
While India will play against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will play at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi next Monday.
Jay Shah, the secretary of BCCI said that the Indian board was sensitive to environmental concerns and thus has decided not to use fireworks during the World Cup matches that are scheduled to take place in Mumbai and Delhi on November 2 and November 6 respectively.
The overall Tuesday AQI score in Mumbai was a “moderate” 172, with Bandra Kurla Complex reaching an alarming high of 260, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). This October has had the worst air quality Delhi has seen since 2020.