Delhi AQI: Air quality continues to be 'severe plus'; check latest updates
Delhi AQI Update: "To reduce pollution, the Delhi government decided to implement work from home in government offices. 50% of employees will work from home. For its implementation, a meeting will be held with the officials at 1 pm today in the Secretariat," Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai tweeted.
Delhi's air quality index (AQI) continued to be in the 'severe plus' category today (November 20), too. This is the third consecutive day that the national capital's air quality has remained severe. Here's the latest updates from different areas in the NCR and what actions have been taken by the government. Take a look:
Vehicle checking
Delhi Police conducted vehicle checks on Tuesday (November 19) night to ensure the proper implementation of Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).
GRAP IV
The GRAP IV has been in effect since 8:00 AM on November 18, in response to deteriorating air quality in Delhi-NCR.
Work from home
Due to increased pollution levels, the Delhi government has also implemented 'work from home'.
What did Delhi Environment Minister say?
"To reduce pollution, the Delhi government decided to implement work from home in government offices. 50% of employees will work from home. For its implementation, a meeting will be held with the officials at 1 pm today in the Secretariat," Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai tweeted.
Office timings for govt employees
In response to worsening air pollution, Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena issued a directive on Tuesday to all government workers to work at staggered hours.
'Severe' air quality in these regions
At 10 AM today, these regions in NCR recorded severe AQI.
Ashok Vihar: 465
Alipur: 465
ITO: 406
Dwarka-Sector 8: 441
Okhla Phase-2: 417
Sonia Vihar: 450
Shadipur: 427
Rohini:463
Vivek Vihar: 462
Punjabi Bagh: 450
North Campus: 422
Gurugram, Sector-51: 437
What is 'severe' AQI?
Severe AQI ranges from 401 to 500 marks and affects healthy people and seriously impacts those with existing diseases.
Areas with less than 400 AQI
Haryana's Faridabad, sector 30 recorded 307 AQI, 286 in sector 11 while sector 16A recorded 264 AQI on Wednesday around 10 AM. In Noida, sector 125; AQI was 315, 279 in sector 1, 298 in sector 116 and 391 in sector 62.
Delhi temperature
The city's minimum temperature dropped to 11.1 degrees Celsius Tuesday night, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Construction and schools
There is a complete ban on construction and demolition activities and suspension of physical classes in schools.
What is GRAP?
First introduced in 2017, Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) categorises air quality into four stages based on severity: Stage 1 - "poor" (AQI 201-300), Stage 2 - "very poor" (AQI 301-400), Stage 3 - "severe" (AQI 401-450), and Stage 4 - "severe plus" (AQI above 450).