Air Pollution

The Centre, in an affidavit, said the number of vehicles used for the Central government business in NCR was not very significant, therefore "the Central government decided that in view of the recent normalisation of functioning of Central government offices post-Covid pandemic, the advantage of not passing work from home direction would outweigh the advantages which would be gained from work from home directions".

The directives, however, do not include lockdown as suggested by the Supreme Court while hearing a case filed by a minor Delhi resident, who has claimed that the severe air pollution is causing health hazards for him and other children.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the maximum temperature for the day will settle at 27 degrees Celsius, one degree more than Monday's 26.4 degrees. This week, the maximum temperature will fluctuate between 26 to 28 degrees and the minimum between 10 to 11 degrees, according to the IMD data. The relative humidity at 8.30 a.m. was recorded at 88 per cent.

A bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and also comprising Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Surya Kant told senior advocate Rahul Mehra, representing the national capital government, that 'the Delhi government wants to accuse the farmers for stubble burning as a major contributory factor for air pollution in the capital'. It pointed out that it is an insignificant source of pollution here.

The city woke up to a misty Monday morning, with the maximum and minimum temperatures likely to hover around 27 degrees 10 degrees Celsius respectively, the India Meteorological data (IMD) showed. The relative humidity at 8.30 a.m. was recorded at 90 per cent. As per IMD, the maximum temperature of the national capital on Sunday stood at 28.1 degrees and the minimum at 10.3 per cent.

In an affidavit, the Delhi government said: "GNCTD is ready to take steps like complete lockdown to control local emissions. However, such a step would be meaningful if it is implemented across the NCR areas in neighbouring states. Given Delhi's compact size, a lockdown would have limited impact on the air quality regime".

According to the India Meteorological Department, the pollution level in many places of Delhi was less on Sunday than the previous days. Analysis of visibility observations showed that at IGI Airport, the visibility remained at 1,500-2,200 metres.The drop in moisture continued while winds have been mostly calm throughout the day.

After moderate fog early in the morning, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the sky will remain clear for the remaining day.

While Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) at 556 made it to the top of the list, Kolkata and Mumbai recorded an AQI of 177 and 169, respectively, at fourth and sixth position, on the list. The cities with the worst AQI indices also include Lahore, in Pakistan, and Chengdu, in China. A real-time air quality information platform -- IQAir is also a technology partner of the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP).

A bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and also comprising Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Surya Kant queried senior advocate Rahul Mehra, representing the Delhi government, as to what happened to the smog tower, and whether it was still functioning. In his response, Mehra said the tower is working and pointed out that on September 30 the Air Quality Index (AQI) was 84 or 'satisfactory'.