Delhi Air Pollution LIVE Updates: Delhi’s Toxic Air Equals Smoking 49 Cigarettes a Day As AQI Hits An Alarming 755

Delhi News Live Updates: Lungs of Class 10, 12 students no different stop physical classes of all standards upto Class 12, says Supreme Court.

Delhi Air Pollution LIVE Updates: Delhi’s Toxic Air Equals Smoking 49 Cigarettes a Day As AQI Hits An Alarming 731

Delhi AQI Right Now: Delhi-NCR and the nearby regions are facing a serious air pollution crisis. With the Air Quality Index (AQI) hitting an alarming 700, breathing in the city is akin to smoking 49 cigarettes each day. According to aqi.in, the national capital's air quality index (AQI), as of 21:22 pm on November 18, stood at 755.

Taking cognizance of the situation, the Supreme Court said it will not allow scaling down of preventive measures under stage IV of GRAP even if AQI goes below 450. The court also asked the Delhi government about the steps taken to curb pollution and questioned why the implementation of stage III of GRAP was delayed by three days. Noting, that the lungs of a student in Class 10 were no different from those of a student in Class 12, the Supreme Court directed the government to stop physical classes for all school going children.

What are the measures taken? The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) sub-committee has decided to implement Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) for Delhi-NCR starting today owing to 'severe' air quality conditions. Stage IV restrictions include halting construction and demolition activities that generate dust. At 11 am today, as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, the AQI was 487. According to experts, this is the "most polluted episode observed in November" in recent years.

Delhi's neighbouring state of Haryana is the second worst. An AQI level of 631 is equal to smoking 33.25 cigarettes each day.

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