In no let-up, Chandigarh air now worse than Delhi
Hindustan TimesFor the fifth consecutive day on Sunday, Chandigarh’s air quality remained in the “very poor” category while even worsening to a level higher than national capital Delhi, which has been grappling with severe pollution for weeks. According to the daily Air Quality Index bulletin released by the Central Pollution Control Board, while the mean AQI in Delhi was 334, Chandigarh’s AQI shot up further to 339, marking the season’s worst. Speaking about the worsening AQI, Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee member secretary TC Nautiyal said while this was partly due to the falling temperature, Chandigarh was also bearing the brunt of rising cases of stubble burning in the neighbouring states. Delhi had issued an action plan around three weeks back, which had more extreme measures like traffic control and declaring holidays in schools, which officials said could be the reason why its AQI was now lower than Chandigarh.