Smog blankets

A thick layer of smog enveloped Delhi on Tuesday morning as the city's air quality deteriorated to the 'very poor' category with 27 monitoring stations falling in the red zone, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.

The city's air quality index, or AQI, was recorded at 317 at 9 am on Tuesday.

This deterioration in air quality led to prompting enforcement of Stage II of the Graded Response Action Plan, or GRAP, in the national capital, which enforces a ban on the use of coal and firewood, including tandoors in hotels, restaurants, and open eateries, as well as diesel generator sets, except for emergency and essential services.

Meanwhile in neighbouring Haryana, the Karnal district administration conducted a series of raids on several firecracker warehouses in the area ahead of Diwali on Monday.

A few warehouses were sealed after authorities found them storing banned firecrackers.

The Delhi High Court on Monday said it cannot allow the sale of firecrackers when there is already "enough" pollution in the national capital.

The court's oral observation came while dealing with a petition by the 'Delhi Fireworks Shopkeepers Association', a group of traders with a "permanent" licence to possess and sell crackers.

The Delhi government had earlier called for a collaborative approach to improving air quality across NCR states, including Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan.

Officials highlighted that GRAP rules, issued by the Commission for Air Quality Management, apply not only to Delhi but to the entire NCR, including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan.
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