The Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI) on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to call an emergency meeting with the governments of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh in view of the "severe" air pollution in the national capital, officials of the organisation said.
Data from the Central Pollution Control Board shows that Delhi's air quality index increased by over 200 points between October 27 and November 3, culminating in a descent into the "severe plus" category (above 450) on Friday. However, the 24-hour average AQI, recorded at 4 pm every day, marginally improved from 468 on Friday to 415 on Saturday.
CTI chairperson Brijesh Goyal said business is declining despite the festive season due to pollution. The central government is requested to take strict and concrete steps against air pollution in collaboration with all the governments or else business will suffer, he said in a letter to Prime Minister Modi.
Mr Goyal said the air quality in the Delhi-NCR region is in the "severe category". Pollution is not only Delhi's problem, but it affects the entire National Capital Region, he said.
The "solution to this issue is not in the hands of the Delhi government alone", the CTI chairperson said. "Unless the governments of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Punjab work together, the problem of pollution cannot be solved," Mr Goyal said.
"The CTI has written a letter to the prime minister demanding to call an emergency meeting on this issue in which the Delhi government, Haryana government, Punjab government, UP government, the chief minister of Rajasthan and the environment minister should participate," he added.
Mr Goyal said the air pollution will impact business as Diwali is coming, adding that the wedding season will also start here from November 23.
Claiming that three to four lakh people used to come to Delhi every day for shopping, he said that their number has reduced to one lakh due to pollution.
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