Following directions from the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in NCR and Adjoining Areas to expeditiously put on road CNG buses, Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Wednesday said 1,000 CNG buses will be hired to encourage people to use public transport.
On Wednesday, The Hindu had reported that the Transport Department is planning to temporarily induct 1,000 buses to augment the public transport.
“To encourage public transport in Delhi, 1,000 private CNG buses will be hired, the process for which will begin tomorrow,” the Minister said later on Wednesday.
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He said that the Government will be implementing other measures, which have been ordered by the CAQM.
Meanwhile, the air quality of the Capital improved slightly to the “very poor” category on Wednesday from “severe” category a day earlier and is likely to improve and be in the same range till Friday.
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“The AQI today indicates ‘very poor’ category and is likely to improve but remain the same for the next two days as transport level winds are coming from the east direction preventing intrusion of pollutants from the upwind region. Local surface winds are low and mixing layer height is about 1 km resulting in poor ventilation of near surface pollutants. From November 20, surface winds are likely to be strong resulting in effective dispersion that improves air quality,” government-run monitoring agency SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research) said in a statement.
On Wednesday, the contribution of stubble burning in neighbouring States to PM2.5 (a chief pollutant) in Delhi came down to 6%. Also, effective fire counts in the region were 2,643, as per SAFAR. The AQI was 375 on Wednesday as per the CPCB’s 4 p.m. bulletin.
The air quality of the city entered the “severe” level for the first time this winter on November 5 with an AQI of 462. A higher value of AQI indicates more air pollution.