NEW DELHI: Congress MP Sashi Tharoor on Saturday took a swipe at the depleting air quality of Delhi-NCR, sharing a social media post from six years back.Tharoor shared an image which said, “How long will you live with cigarette bidi and cigar? How many days to spend in Delhi_NCR. (How long will you spend your life on cigarettes, bidis, and cigars? Spend a few days in Delhi-NCR instead.,
Tharoor also said that the post remains relevant even after six years.“Six years of indifference later, this post remains sadly, frustratingly relevant still…” he said.Since Diwali, the national capital’s air quality has been either ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’, occasionally worsening to ‘severe’, while mercury continues to dip.According to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) hourly air-quality bulletin, the city recorded an overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of 311.Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi said that the air quality is likely to remain in the ‘very poor’ category over the next few days.Out of 38 monitoring stations in the national capital, 26 reported air quality in the ‘very poor’ category. Bawana was the most polluted area, with an AQI of 366, followed closely by Jahangirpuri at 348.The CPCB defines the AQI ranges as follows: 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 is satisfactory, 101-200 is moderate, 201-300 is poor, 301-400 is very poor, and 401-500 is severe.The India Meteorological Department (IMD) informed that Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 12.7 degrees Celsius, 1.6 notches below normal, while the relative humidity at 8.30 am was 67 per cent. The maximum temperature is likely to hover around 26 degrees Celsius.A layer of shallow fog is anticipated to persist throughout the day, resulting in low visibility in several parts of the city, according to the IMD.
