Delhi pollution forces SBI to postpone green marathon

The State Bank of India has postponed its marathon in New Delhi as air quality remained 'severe' in the national capital. The largest lender in India was initially planning to organise SBI Green Marathon in Delhi in the early hours of November 17. SBI said the new dates for the Delhi marathon will be declared soon. However, SBI has not explicitly mentioned the reason behind postponing its marathon in Delhi.

In a tweet on its official handle, the SBI said: "Delhi Marathon Postponed! We plan to run the Delhi Marathon at a later date and we will announce details as soon as possible. However, now there is more time to prepare for the Delhi Marathon. Stay tuned for further updates!"

Apart from Delhi, SBI organises Green Marathon in cities including Lucknow, Guwahati, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Patna, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Thiruvananthapuram, Bhubaneswar, Chennai and Hyderabad to promote environment sustainability and better living conditions for future generations.

With the worsening air quality in Delhi-NCR region, the Central Pollution Control Board has asked people to avoid outdoor activities and stay indoors. The Supreme Court-mandated anti-pollution authority Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority, or EPCA, has ordered schools in Delhi-NCR to be closed for the next two days due to worsening air quality.

By 2:30pm on Thursday, the air quality index (AQI) had deteriorated further to 463 at 2:30 pm in the city, three points higher than what was recorded at 9:30 am. An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered 'poor', 301-400 'very poor' and 401-500 'severe', while the AQI above 500 falls in the severe plus category.

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