In a pressing inquiry on Monday, the Supreme Court of India challenged the Delhi government regarding the delayed enforcement of anti-pollution measures as the capital grapples with deteriorating air quality. During a hearing of a plea for stronger air pollution controls, the justices expressed concern, questioning, “Why did we wait for the air quality index to cross 300?”
This season marks the first occurrence of Delhi’s air quality plummeting into the ‘severe plus’ category, compelling the government to activate Stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), designed to combat escalating pollution levels. Early morning data from the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) showed a distressing air quality index (AQI) of 481. Out of 35 monitoring stations across Delhi, the majority reported AQI values exceeding 400, with the Dwarka area reaching an alarming peak of 499.
