Delhi govt orders all government and MCD offices to operate with 50% staff strength, AQI hits 526

Delhi AQI Today: Delhi government's General Administrative Department on Wednesday ordered all government and MCD offices to operate with 50 per cent of the staff strength; the other 50 per cent will work from home, according to an official order released on November 20, reported the news agency ANI. 

As the AQI of the national capital, Delhi plummeted to 526 on Wednesday, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Gopal Rai also announced that government offices in Delhi will move to work-from-home mode for 50 per cent of the employees. 

“To reduce pollution, (the) Delhi government decided to work from home in government offices. 50% employees will work from home. For its implementation, a meeting will be held with the officials at 1 pm today in the Secretariat,” Rai posted on X in Hindi.

The government announced staggered office timings for its offices and the MCD earlier.

The timings of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) offices were fixed from 8.30 am to 5 pm, while that of Delhi government offices were 10 am to 6.30 pm.

Delhi Faces Severe Pollution Crisis as AQI Soars to Hazardous Levels

On Wednesday, Delhi experienced a significant environmental crisis, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) reaching hazardous levels across multiple areas. Ashok Vihar Phase 2 recorded an AQI of 527, and several other regions in the city saw alarming AQI readings.

Here are the AQI levels recorded in key locations:

Alipur: 490

Anand Lok: 504

Anand Prabat: 376

Anand Vihar: 591

Ashok Vihar Phase 1: 522

Ashok Vihar Phase 2: 527

Ashok Vihar Phases 3 and 4: 634

Delhi Cantt: 258

Dwarka Sector 11: 521

Dwarka Sector 23: 390

Greater Kailash II: 256

GTB Nagar: 617

Vehicle Checks and Implementation of GRAP Stage IV

In response to the worsening air quality, the Delhi Police conducted vehicle checks on Tuesday night to enforce Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). This stage prohibits the operation of Delhi-registered BS-IV and older diesel-operated medium goods vehicles (MGVs) and heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), except those involved in essential services.

Supreme Court's Intervention on Air Pollution Measures

Stage IV of GRAP has been in effect since 8:00 AM on November 18 to curb Delhi’s deteriorating air quality. On Monday, the Supreme Court directed the Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR) governments to strictly implement GRAP Stage IV measures, as the AQI continues to fall within the “severe” category.

The court instructed NCR states to form teams to monitor and enforce the action plan and emphasized that the measures should remain in place even if the AQI drops below 450. All NCR states and the central government have been asked to file compliance affidavits.