The Supreme Court on Monday questioned the Delhi government over the worsening air quality in the national capital, asking why there was a delay in implementing the anti-pollution measures. “Why did we wait for the air quality index to cross 300?” the top court asked.
The top court was hearing a plea seeking enforcement of measures to curb air pollution in the national capital.
Delhi’s air quality plunged to ‘severe plus’ for the first time this season, forcing the government to implement Stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) – an anti-pollution plan. According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) data, Delhi’s air quality Index (AQI) was 481 in the morning. Of the 35 monitoring stations in the national capital, most recorded over 400 AQI, with Dwarka reporting the highest at 499.