137 clean air days in Delhi till Aug 4, seven more than same period last year

Delhi has recorded 137 clean air days till August 4 this year as against 130 during the corresponding period last year, the city government said on Tuesday, attributing the improvement to sustained planning and scientific interventions.

Delhi has recorded five consecutive days of ‘satisfactory’ air quality until Tuesday, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) remaining within the range of 51 to 100, the government said in a statement.

The capital recorded an AQI of 64 on Tuesday. Pollution hotspot Vivek Vihar recorded an AQI of 43, which falls in the ‘good’ category (0-50).

According to the statement, Delhi has recorded 137 clean air days so far this year. This is seven more than the number of clean air days recorded during the same period last year.

In 2016, Delhi logged only 110 clean air days, the statement said.

Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said the improvement was a result of sustained planning and scientific interventions, among other things.

“The steady improvement in Delhi’s air quality reflects the outcome of sustained planning, scientific interventions and round-the-clock efforts by multiple government agencies, as well as sustainable and environment-friendly practices adopted by citizens,” the statement quoted Sirsa as saying.

He said the government will continue to strengthen enforcement, dust mitigation measures, biomining of legacy waste, pollution hotspot management and continuous monitoring to further improve air quality.

The minister urged citizens to support the government’s efforts by avoiding open waste burning, maintaining vehicles properly, reducing unnecessary vehicle use and planting more trees.

“The fight against pollution cannot be won by the government alone. Every citizen has an important role to play,” Sirsa said.

According to the statement, the government’s anti-pollution drive continued across the capital over the past 24 hours, during which around 2,243 metric tonnes of construction and demolition (C&D) waste was lifted and scientifically disposed of.

Enforcement teams issued 11,797 challans for violations contributing to vehicular pollution.

As part of waste management efforts, around 12,277 metric tonnes of legacy waste was processed through biomining at Bhalswa, Ghazipur and Okhla landfill sites, the statement said.

The government also deployed 81 mechanical road sweepers, which covered around 2,502 km of roads and collected about 169 metric tonnes of dust for scientific disposal.

Alongside mechanical sweeping, scientific dust suppression measures, monitoring of pollution hotspots and traffic management interventions were also carried out in coordination with Delhi Traffic Police to curb vehicular emissions and congestion.