Tag: Delhi

Delhi world’s most polluted capital; ranks fourth among cities, Ghaziabad 2nd

Delhi emerged as the most polluted capital and the fourth most polluted city in the world, according to a 2021 World Air Quality Report by Swiss organisation IQAir.

The report listed vehicular emissions, power generation, industrial waste, biomass combustion for cooking, construction and stubble burning as the major sources of pollution. (Image used for representational purpose only)

The report said Delhi saw a 14.6% increase in PM2.5 concentration in 2021, with levels rising to 96.4 ug/m3 (micrograms per cubic metres) from 84 ug/m3 in 2020. This was nearly 20 times the WHO’s safety limit of 5 ug/m3.

Thirty-five of the world’s 50 most polluted cities were in India, the report said. None of the Indian cities met the prescribed WHO standards for PM2.5 while 48% of the country’s cities exceeded 50 ug/m3, or more than 10 times the WHO guidelines. The report named 63 Indian cities in the 100 most polluted worldwide.

According to the report, Bhiwadi in Rajasthan was the most polluted city in the word, followed by Ghaziabad in UP. Both fall in NCR. They were followed by Hotan (China), New Delhi and Jaunpur (UP), Faisalabad (Pakistan), Noida (UP), Bahawalpur (Pakistan), Peshawar (Pakistan) and Bagpat (UP).

“India’s annual average PM2.5 levels reached 58.1 ug/m3 in 2021, ending a three-year trend of improving air quality. Its annual PM2.5 averages have now returned to pre-quarantine concentrations as measured in 2019,” the report stated.
Pointing out challenges, the report said air pollution is the second-biggest risk factor for disease and its economic cost is estimated to exceed $150 billion annually.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/delhi-worlds-most-polluted-capital-ranks-fourth-among-cities-gzb-2nd/articleshow/90384152.cms

Nitin Gadkari: Delhi-Mumbai to Take 12 Hours, Mumbai-Srinagar to Take 20 Hours

In some very good news for those who travel by road, Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has shared several updates regarding the road network in India. Amongst the updates, one of the biggest highlights has to be the fact that travelling from Mumbai to Delhi will soon be able to cover this distance in just a matter of 12 hours. And that’s not it, those wanting to travel all the way to Srinagar from Mumbai will be able to cover this distance in 20 hours.

On Tuesday, on the progress in the building of infrastructure, the minister said that road travel between Delhi to Jaipur; and Delhi to Haridwar now takes 2 hours. Similarly, the travel time from Delhi to Amritsar is now four hours. Gadkari said that connectivity between Delhi to Mumbai will be improved such that the travel time is reduced to 12 hours and added that “we will complete within this year”.

“From Ladakh, Leh to Srinagar we will go to Mumbai…. before the end of this year, we will try that from Srinagar you are able to reach Mumbai in 20 hours,” the minister said. Work is on in full swing for the Zojila tunnel in Kashmir and is expected to be completed by 2024, much before the scheduled target of 2026, he said. Gadkari said currently 70 per cent of goods and 90 per cent of the passenger traffic are travelling by road, as he highlighted the importance of becoming more competitive and reducing logistics costs.

Road projects worth Rs 62,000 crore have been undertaken in the national capital to ease traffic congestions, and tackle the problem of pollution, Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday. Replying to a debate on the Demands for Grants for Road Transport and Highways Ministry, 2022-23, in the Lok Sabha, Gadkari recalled how he used to get stuck for an hour in Dhaula Kuan traffic every time he used to travel to and from the airport.

For fourth consecutive year in 2021, Delhi declared world’s most polluted capital in world

 

Delhi has been declared the most polluted capital in the world in terms of air quality for the fourth year in a row in 2021, reveals a new report which says 35 out of 50 cities with the worst air quality were in India.
Representative image

The World Air Quality Report released by Swiss organization IQAir is based on PM 2.5 data from 6,475 cities in 117 countries.

The dataset used to generate this report was derived from the IQAir real-time online air quality monitoring platform, which aggregates, validates, calibrates, and harmonizes data from air quality monitoring stations around the globe.
The report said that publicly available air quality monitoring station data continued to increase in 2021. India, New Zealand, and Canada, in particular, saw significant increases.

Air pollution has a massive impact on human health in India. The researchers said, “India was home to 11 of the 15 most polluted cities in Central and South Asia in 2021. Delhi saw a 14.6 per cent increase in PM2.5 concentrations in 2021 with levels rising to 96.4 ug/m3 from 84 ug/m3 in 2020. No cities in India met the WHO air quality guideline of 5 ug/m3. In 2021, 48% of India’s cities exceeded 50 ug/m3, or more than 10 times the WHO guideline.”

Air pollution causes and aggravates many diseases, ranging from asthma to cancer, lung illnesses and heart disease and in this age of COVID-19, researchers have found that exposure to PM2.5 increases both the risk of contracting the virus and of suffering more severe symptoms when infected, including death.

Source: https://www.mid-day.com/news/india-news/article/for-fourth-consecutive-year-in-2021-delhi-declared-worlds-most-polluted-capital-in-world-report-23219555

 

Delhi records 97 new Covid cases, 1 death

Delhi recorded 97 fresh Covid-19 cases and one fatality linked to the disease, while the positivity rate stood at 0.41 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department on Sunday.

The number of tests conducted a day ago stood at 23,766.

The new fatality pushed the death toll from the pandemic to 26,147 in Delhi, the bulletin stated.

Source : https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/delhi-records-97-new-covid-cases-1-death/articleshow/90342592.cms

5 kids among 7 killed in northeast Delhi slum inferno

A cluster of 60 hutments in north-east Delhi’s Gokulpuri turned into a death trap for seven, including five children, early Saturday morning when a fire at the entrance of the settlement cut off their escape, sealing their fate. Having probably started from a heap of trash, the blaze spread across the entire area with people – jolted out of sleep – scrambling to get away in the dark as the power went off. Four people suffered burns.

Delhi
Ravina lost five people in her family — two brothers, a sister, sister-inlaw and a nephew. Another brother has been injured

The fire department received a call around 1am and it took them around 2-3 hours to completely douse the fire. Thirteen fire tenders were rushed to the spot and cooling operations continued till noon. The cause of the fire is still being investigated but prima facie it appears it started from that trash heap which had inflammable material.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal reached the slum cluster by noon and announced compensation for the victims – Rs 10 lakh for the next of kin of each adult who died, Rs 5 lakh each for families of the children who died and Rs 25,000 for each shanty that was gutted.

In this instance, since the fire started at the front and there are buildings at the rear, people found it difficult to get away. The lanes are anyway narrow and congested. The flames fed on two heaps of trash – one of tyres and discarded rubber material and the other of cardboard stacks – posing a big challenge to the firefighters. “Rubber flames not only rise quite high, but are also toxic,” said Shukla.

Exit mobile version