New Delhi:

A double-engine government in Delhi may not translate to positive action to end air pollution in the national capital, the Supreme Court said today in a moment of light-hearted exchange. 

While hearing the issue of air pollution, the discussion turned to the change in government in Delhi. 

Amicus curiae in the case, senior advocate Aparajita Singh, remarked that she was relieved that there would no longer be any conflict between Delhi and the Center, with the BJP coming to power with a massive majority. During the rule of Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party government, “half the time was wasted in fighting and the issues remained unresolved,” she said.

Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati said she hopes that there will be no conflict.

To this, the bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuiyan shot back, “This is the practical aspect of it. They may not be fighting. But it does not mean that they will be active”.

The Aam Aadmi Party, after a decade of governing Delhi, was routed in last week’s election, sliding from 62 to 22 seats in the capital. The BJP, which had eight seats, had gone up to 48. 

Besides corruption, AAP’s defeat has been attributed to its failure to curb pollution of the Yamuna waters and the yearly atmospheric haze that chokes the National Capital Region. 

The criticism has been sharper after the party formed government in neighbouring Punjab — one of the states along with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, where stubble burning by farmers contributes massively to the smog blanket over north India.

With satellite images making it clear that the farm fires in Punjab continuing unabated, there were questions what the AAP government in the state was doing to control it. 

In the top court meanwhile, Ms Bhati sought permission to ease GRAP-IV measures that are currently enforced in Delhi. The bench said it would consider the issue on February 17 and asked the law officer to give a chart of the Air Quality Index.

New Delhi:

The skyrocketing pollution in Delhi – which was reported to have the highest pollutant levels in the world the day after Diwali – is directly impacting people’s health, with 69% of families in the capital and the National Capital Region (NCR) reporting at least one person suffering, a survey has revealed. 

AQI (Air Quality Index) on the night of Diwali on Thursday also reached 999, which is the highest recordable level, in several parts of Delhi and NCR. 

The survey, by LocalCircles, which received over 21,000 responses from residents of Delhi, Noida, Gurugram, Faridabad and Ghaziabad, revealed that 69% of families have one or more members with sore throat or cough, 62% have at least one member feeling a burning sensation in their eyes due to rising levels of pollution and 46% have someone with a running nose or congestion. Several respondents reported more than one symptom.

Members with breathing difficulty or asthma were reported by 31%, headache by 31%, anxiety and or difficulty concentrating by 23% and difficulty sleeping by 15%. On the flip side, 31% also said no one in their families had any issues at all because of pollution. 

The last similar survey was conducted on October 19, days after GRAP (graded response action plan)-1 was imposed on Delhi and there has been a significant shift in at least one of the symptoms in two weeks. The percentage of people with sore throat and or cough went up from 36% at the time to 69% as of Friday. 

‘Just Live With It’

Only 23% of respondents will use air purifiers to see them through this phase of very high pollution and an equal number said they will just live with it. 

15% stated that they plan to carry on with their routine activity and wear a mask when outdoors, the same number said they would do this while increasing consumption of immunity-boosting food or drinks, and the same percentage also said they plan to travel for some part of the month.

The percentage of families who said they will use air purifiers has, however, gone up from 18% to 23% in two weeks.