Delhi's air turns 'severe' before Diwali as Stage 3 GRAP curbs take effect across the capital region
India's capital Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) are now facing a situation akin to a breathing emergency. Although Diwali is still to come, the Air Quality Index (AQI) crossed the 400 mark on Friday (6 November), placing the air in the 'severe' category. Hospitals in Delhi have also reported a rise in patients with respiratory problems.
As a precautionary step, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has brought Stage 3 restrictions of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) into force with immediate effect across the NCR. NDTV Online reported the information on Friday.
Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa has appealed to residents for cooperation. In a video posted on X, he said he was requesting Delhi's residents to help because the weather is set to worsen from tomorrow. The air may become almost completely still, which would push the AQI higher still, and according to the weather department's forecast the wind speed could drop to nearly zero.
To understand what this polluted air is doing to the body, NDTV spoke to noted pulmonologist Dr Randeep Guleria, a former director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi.
Dr Guleria said that the air quality now being seen, even before Diwali, is an extremely serious problem. Calling it a 'silent epidemic', he said the number of patients with respiratory problems in hospital outpatient and emergency departments has risen by about 20 percent.
He said people with asthma or COPD, and even those with heart conditions, are experiencing more breathlessness and a feeling of discomfort or pressure in the chest. More worryingly, many healthy people with no previous respiratory problems are now suffering throat irritation, breathlessness, wheezing while breathing, and a mild but persistent cough — a condition known in medical terms as bronchial hyperactivity.
Dr Guleria said pollution irritates the airways and the throat, which is why such symptoms are appearing even in physically healthy people. Older people and children, who fall in the high-risk group, are being affected the most.
Asked whether polluted air can cause a heart attack, Dr Guleria said yes, it can. When PM2.5 levels in the air are very high, these particles enter the bloodstream from the lungs and, once mixed with the blood, cause inflammation in the blood vessels.
