Delhi chokes

Airport sources said that there were times when only one runway was operable.

The CPCB blamed the bad air primarily on low wind speeds at the ground level, coupled with pollution- and moisture-laden winds converging over Delhi at high altitudes. But an official from the board said that the situation may start improving from Friday.

“There is absolutely no wind movement at the surface level at the moment. But, from Friday, this could change, driving pollutants away,” CPCB member secretary A Sudhakar told Hindustan Times.

Though a slew of measures, including increasing parking fees, had been announced by EPCA on Tuesday – when the average AQI was 448 -- it took more than 24 hours for local civic authorities to fall in line. “From Thursday, parking rates under MCDS will be Rs 80 per hour for cars and Rs 40 for two-wheelers,” said Ranbir Singh, commissioner East Delhi Municipal Corporation, minutes after the L-G warned the civic bodies that not adhering to EPCA guidelines would be contempt of a Supreme Court order.

This delay happened even though all the agencies had signed off to the emergency measures months in advance under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) for the National Capital Region.

The Metro rail corporation, which had been asked by EPCA on Tuesday to slash off-peak ticket prices by half, did not implement the measure citing technical issues.

Instead, it said it would run an additional 186 train trips from Thursday.

Kejriwal said on Twitter that Delhi was experiencing “an emergency”, while continuing to blame stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana for the pollution. In its health advisory, the government said people should stay indoors as much as possible as the “smog is poisonous” and may lead to asthma attacks and other respiratory complications.