Janata Dal (United) leader and former Rajya Sabha MP KC Tyagi on Tuesday announced his decision to quit the party, ANI reported. The development comes a day after JD(U) chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was elected to the Rajya Sabha from the state. Kumar
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Delhi: Vehicles without pollution control certificate will not be allowed to refuel from December 18
The Delhi government on Tuesday said that vehicles without a valid Pollution Under Control certificate will not be allowed to refuel at petrol pumps in the national capital from Thursday, PTI reported.
A Pollution Under Control certificate, or PUC, indicates that a vehicle's emissions are within pollution norms and are not harmful to the environment.
Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that vehicle owners had been given one day to comply with the rule on the certificate. “After tomorrow, vehicles that do not have a valid PUC certificate will not be provided fuel,” PTI quoted the Bharatiya Janata Party leader as saying.
This came as the air quality in Delhi improved marginally to the “very poor” category on Tuesday from “severe plus” on Monday.
The national capital's average Air Quality Index stood at 349 at 5.05 pm, according to data from the Sameer application, which provides hourly updates published by the Central Pollution Control Board.
Delhi's air quality had deteriorated sharply in the past few days.
The capital's average AQI rose from 307 on Thursday to 349 on Friday and 431 on Saturday, before touching 461 on Sunday. On Monday, the average air quality in the city stood at 427.
An index value between 301 and 400 indicates “very poor” air. Between 401 and 450 indicates “severe” air pollution, while anything above the 450 threshold is termed “severe plus”.
An AQI in the “severe” and “severe plus” category signifies hazardous pollution levels that can pose serious risks even to healthy individuals.
The deterioration in the air quality has been attributed to unfavourable weather conditions, including very low wind speeds caused by a western disturbance.
Since December 13, Delhi and the National Capital Region have been under Stage 4 restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan to curb pollution.
The curbs include a ban on the entry of trucks into the region, a halt on construction activities for public and private projects, and a shift to hybrid mode for schools, except Class 10 and Class 12.
Amid the high pollution levels, the Delhi government on Monday directed schools to shift to online mode, from hybrid, for students up to Class 5.
GRAP is a set of incremental anti-pollution measures that are triggered to prevent further worsening of air quality once it reaches a certain threshold in the Delhi and its adjoining National Capital Region.
This was the first time this season that Stage 4 restrictions, triggered when the AQI breaches the 450 mark, were enforced in Delhi-NCR.
On Tuesday, Sirsa said that the air quality in Delhi remained better for nearly eight months this year compared to the same period last year, PTI reported.
Acknowledging that pollution levels had worsened recently, he claimed the situation was still better than last year due to sustained efforts by the present BJP government over the past ten months.
He asked what concrete measures the Aam Aadmi Party had taken to control pollution during its tenure.
Delhi-NCR has been recording air quality in the “poor” or worse categories since mid-October.
Air quality deteriorates sharply in the winter months in Delhi, which is often ranked the world's most polluted capital. Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana, vehicular pollution, along with the lighting of firecrackers during Diwali, falling temperatures, decreased wind speeds and emissions from industries and coal-fired plants contribute to the problem.
Source: Scroll
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