Delhi logs 9th straight ‘Satisfactory’ AQI day
New Delhi: In a promising shift for the capital’s environment, Delhi registered its ninth straight day of ‘Satisfactory’ air quality, with the AQI recorded at 78 on Thursday. Pollution hotspots like Punjabi Bagh and Vivek Vihar showed marked improvement, both logging an AQI of 67, indicating a city-wide trend towards cleaner air.
The improvement coincides with a massive push by the Delhi government to clean up the capital’s landfill sites and public spaces. Environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa credited this momentum to what he described as a determined and coordinated effort on the ground. “We are working round-the-clock to clean Delhi’s air, land and streets. Every landfill reduced, every clean air day earned, it reflects collective will and disciplined action,” he said.
In one of the most intensive waste disposal days to date, the government cleared 28,660 metric tonnes of legacy waste from three major landfill sites, Bhalaswa, Okhla and Ghazipur, in just 24 hours on July 3. The Bhalaswa site led with 15,177 MT cleared, while Ghazipur and Okhla contributed 9,043 MT and 4,439 MT, respectively. Alongside this, over 24,000 MT of inert waste, nearly 2,000 MT of construction waste, and close to 3,000 MT of refuse-derived fuel were processed.
Across the city, more than 10,000 metric tonnes of garbage were removed. Over 6,400 km of roads were cleaned with mechanised sweepers, while 748 kilolitres of treated water were used to suppress dust across more than 1,300 km of roads. The clean-up effort also included the lifting of 2,268 MT of construction and demolition debris.
To ensure the sustainability of these efforts, Sirsa addressed the TERI Master Trainers Workshop on Environment Conservation, which focused on building a trained network of citizens to promote environmental awareness. “The goal of this workshop was not only to raise awareness about environmental protection, but also to prepare trainers who can take this knowledge to every segment of society,” he said. “We are ensuring that Delhi doesn’t just become cleaner and healthier, every citizen must also become a stakeholder in this environmental transformation.”
The drive aligns with the ‘Viksit Delhi’ vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is being led on the ground by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, who has made environmental revival one of her top priorities.
