Delhi Minister Apologies For Toxic Air; Announces Measures To Curb Pollution

Delhi environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said it was unrealistic to expect any elected government to bring down the air pollution within a short period, as Delhi-NCR continued to struggle with severe Air Quality Index (AQI), with air quality ranging from poor to severe, raising serious health concerns for residents.

The Delhi minister says that it is impossible for the government to reduce AQI in 9-10 months. “I apologise for the pollution in Delhi. We are doing better work than the dishonest AAP government, and we have reduced AQI each day. This disease of pollution is given to us by the Aam Aadmi Party, and we are working to fix it.”

Sirsa announced additional measures to curb Delhi’s high AQI level and said that from Thursday, only BS-VI vehicles from outside Delhi will be permitted to enter the national capital.

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Also, vehicles without a valid Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUCC) will be denied fuel at petrol pumps starting Thursday.

As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), several areas, including Ananad Vihar, AIIMS, Ghazipur, and India Gate, reported very poor to severe air quality.

Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) invoked measures under stage – IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across Delhi-NCR. Stage-IV is the strictest level of restrictions, applied when AQI exceeds 450, and is aimed at reducing public exposure and preventing further deterioration of air quality.