Delhi air quality remains in ‘very poor’ category at 355; MCD plans to double parking charges

Delhi air pollution: The air quality remained in the ‘very poor’ category on Tuesday. The air quality index (AQI) for Tuesday read 355, a slight dip from Monday’s 349 at 9 am, but continued to remain in the ‘very poor’ category. Meanwhile, as part of its measures to tackle air pollution, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is planning to double car parking charges in a bid to push people to discourage the usage of private vehicles. 

Some of the stations recorded AQI over 400, including Wazirpur at 424, Jahangirpuri 418, Anand Vihar 404, Mundka 406, and Rohini 415, according to SAFAR-India. 

While not 400, which is ‘severe’ category, most stations recorded AQI in the mid- to upper-300s. The AQI at Ashok Vihar was recorded at 391, while Burari Crossing was 374, Mathura Road 347, Dwarka Sector 8 366, IGI Airport 344, ITO 347, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium 322, Lodhi Road 313, NSIT Dwarka 364, Narela 356, Nehru Nagar 372, North Campus DU 371, Okhla Phase 2 354, Patparganj 371, RK Puram 366, Siri Fort 342, and Vivek Vihar 385 among others. 

Meanwhile, MCD officials said on Monday that they are planning to double its parking charges to discourage the use of private vehicles and curb air pollution caused by vehicular emissions.  A proposal for this will be tabled at the upcoming MCD House meeting scheduled for November 14, coinciding with the elections for Delhi's next mayor and deputy mayor.

The idea of raising parking charges under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)-II has been on the agenda for some time but has been repeatedly sent back to the House for reconsideration. 

Additionally, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has received over 800 pollution-related complaints from the Delhi-NCR region in the last 10 months. In response to an RTI filed by environmentalist Amit Gupta, the CPCB said it has received 665 complaints from Delhi, 143 from Noida and 28 from Gurugram and Faridabad as of October 29.