Delhi's air continues to remain in the 'very unhealthy' category and this has been going on for a few years now, even worse. At present, Delhi air quality index (AQI) around various parts of the city is hovering around 230 which is considered 'very unhealthy'.
Putting that into perspective, the normal range is between 0-50 and Delhi's AQI index stands between 301-400 which falls under 'very poor' category.
A recent report by the World Health Organization (WHO) on top polluted cities in the world doesn't paint a good picture of the national capital.?
The reports says that India has 6 of the top 10 most polluted cities in the world. National capital Delhi is sitting on the top of the list.
Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is in power in the national capital and they have been trying to reduce the air pollution during their last tenure but that hasn't materialised so far.
On Tuesday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) returned to power with a thumping victory for the second successive time. Kejriwal's AAP won 62 seats of the total 70 assembly seats while BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) got only 8 votes.
Prior to the Delhi polls, Kejriwal had released 'Kejriwal ka Guarantee Card' highlighting ten assurances for the people of Delhi. One of the prominent guarantee included a promise to reduce air pollution in Delhi by three times.
First introduced in January 2016 for a fortnight, the odd-even car rationing scheme was an ambitious initiative taken by AAP. It was re-introduced in April 15-30 that same year. Despite the steps taken by AAP, the odd-even scheme didn't really meet expectations.
Last year around October, when air pollution levels had even breached 900-mark in AQI, AAP decided to bring back the odd-even scheme from November 4 to November 16, 2019.
The road-rationing rule came into effect on November 4 as Delhi's air quality reached "severe" levels, and ended on November 16.
However, Supreme Court then said the odd-even scheme "may not be a permanent solution, especially when the CPCB says cars constitute 3 per cent of pollution levels."
"Garbage dumping, construction wastes and road dust are also major contributors to pollution levels," the court had said.
In November, the Supreme Court had directed the Centre and the Delhi government to prepare a plan to install 'smog towers' across the capital to deal with air pollution.
Gautam Gambhir, former cricketer and BJP MP from East Delhi, on Jauary 3 had inaugurated a prototype air purifier at Lajpat Nagar in the national capital.
Smog towers are structures designed as large-scale air purifiers to reduce air pollution.
Now that Delhiites have given a AAP the mandate they needed, they should ensure we get to breathe clean air.