Delhi air quality: Lt Governor to meet Arvind Kejriwal today

Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena asked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Environment Minister Gopal Rai to meet today on Friday in the view of increasing air pollution in the national capital.

Taking to microblogging website X, the lieutenant governor said, "The situation arising out of air pollution in the city is extremely worrying. I have asked CM & Minister (Environment) for a meeting at Raj Niwas at 06:00 PM today, to take stock of the situation."

"I appeal to people to remain indoors as much as possible and to not expose themselves, especially children and elderly to hazardous ambient conditions wherein AQI has reportedly crossed 800 at places...," he said on X.

He further said that he had cancelled his public engagements at Yogmaya Mandir and Urs of Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya and requested the organisers to discourage large gatherings.

Delhi's air quality plummeted to the "severe plus" category on Friday morning, a stage at which all emergency measures, including a ban on polluting trucks, commercial four-wheelers, and all types of construction, are mandated to be initiated and enforced in the National Capital Region.

These measures constitute the final stage of the Centre's air pollution control plan and should ideally be activated at least three days prior to the Air Quality Index surpassing the 450 mark in the capital, as outlined in a policy document prepared by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM).