L-G calls meeting with CM today as Delhi's air quality turns hazardous

With the air quality in the capital region deteriorating to the 'severe' level, the Delhi Lieutenant Governor (L-G) has called a meeting with Delhi Chief Minister and Environment Minister Gopal Rai to take stock of the situation.“The situation arising out of air pollution in the City is extremely worrying. I have asked Hon'ble CM & Hon'ble Minister (Environment) for a meeting at Raj Niwas at 06:00 PM today, to take stock of the situation,” he posted on ‘X’.In another post, he said, “I have cancelled my public engagements at Yogmaya Mandir & Urs of Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya and requested the organisers to discourage large gatherings.”“I appeal to the people to remain indoors as much as possible and to not expose themselves- especially children & elderly to hazardous ambient conditions wherein AQI has reportedly crossed 800 at places,” he said in another post.Concerned over the situation, the Delhi government and other agencies have taken measures including invoking stage III of the pollution control plan, deploying anti-smog guns and re-launching the 'Red light on, Gaadi off' campaign.According to a Delhi government official, the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) stage 3 has been implemented in the national capital with a complete ban on construction or demolition activities.The Centre's pollution control panel invoked the GRAP III on Thursday, directing a halt on non-essential construction work, stone crushing and mining in Delhi-NCR. Under this stage, restrictions are also imposed on the operation of BS III petrol and BS IV diesel four-wheelers in Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, and Gautam Budh Nagar.The Delhi administration, which has stepped up measures to tackle the pollution menace, has deployed anti-smog guns in several places such as Anand Vihar, Kashmiri Gate ISBT, ITO, Pusa Road, Jahangirpuri, Narela Industrial area, and Burari Crossing, officials said.