Reported by caravanmagazine.in
VK SAXENA, the lieutenant governor of Delhi, arrived in Dwarka on the afternoon of 18 November 2024. Above him, the sky was grey and overcast, giving the appearance of a thick, dirty blanket. Delhi’s air pollution had reached its worst levels of the year. By 2 pm, the Central Pollution Control Board’s air quality monitors at fifteen locations hit their 500 AQI limit. They included Dwarka’s Sector 8, which had 1,927 AQI, according to IQAir, an independent monitor. The Commission for Air Quality Management, a statutory body set up in 2021, had moved Delhi’s Graded Response Action Plan into Stage IV, for pollution levels categorised as “severe plus.” (GRAP, a framework put in place in 2017, is a set of emergency measures meant to prevent further deterioration of pollution levels.) Schools shifted to online teaching, construction and demolition work was completely banned, strict vehicular restrictions were put in place, and advisories were sent out for offices to let staff work from home.
