Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has called an “emergency” meeting on Saturday evening to discuss immediate measures to curb air pollution in the city, senior government officials privy to the development said.
“Kejriwal has called an emergency meeting today to tackle air pollution. Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, health minister Satyendar Jain, environment minister Gopal Rai and chief secretary have been asked to be present,” said a senior government official on condition of anonymity.
The decision to convene the meeting came minutes after the Supreme Court suggested that the Centre and the Delhi government should consider imposing a lockdown for two days in the national Capital in view of the rising pollution levels.
The apex court said that air quality in Delhi is in the ‘severe’ category and in another two to three days it will dip further.The court asked the governments to take an emergency decision. “We will look at a long term solution later,” it said.
The national capital plunged into the ‘severe category’ after reporting an air quality index (AQI) of 499, according to the latest data provided by System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).
Authorities on Friday advised people to limit outdoor activities and told government and private offices to cut vehicle use by at least 30% as the air quality in Delhi-NCR inched towards the emergency level amid a rise in emissions from farm fires and unfavourable meteorological conditions.