People at a night shelter at Sarai Kale Khan in New Delhi on December 8, 2024, Sunday.
| Photo Credit: ANI
The Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) has set up 235 pagoda tents to provide shelter to homeless individuals, an official said on Sunday.
It comes as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast of minimum temperature reaching 6 degrees Celsius or three to four degrees below normal on Wednesday.
“Each tent is equipped with essential amenities such as mattresses, blankets, toilet facilities, and health checkup services, along with three meals a day,” the official said. These will be in addition to 197 shelter homes with a total capacity of 7,092 people being run by the board, the official added.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the DUSIB to file a detailed affidavit explaining the night shelter facilities available for the Capital’s homeless. “We are at the eve of what seems to be a chill winter,” the apex court stated.
On Sunday, a minimum of 7.4 degrees Celsius, two degrees below normal, and a maximum of 23.7 degrees Celsius, one degree below normal, was recorded, the IMD said.
The Met Office reasoned active western disturbance bringing snow in the west of the Himalayan region and rain in Punjab and Haryana, behind the dip in temperature in the northern plains.
The IMD has also issued a “cold wave” alert in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and western Uttar Pradesh from December 11 to 14.
A cold wave warning is issued when the minimum temperature is likely to fall below five degrees Celsius.
Air quality
The drop in temperature has also led to deterioration in Delhi’s air quantity, which slipped to “very poor” on Sunday. The average Air Quality Index (AQI) was 302 against 233 on Saturday.
The Central Pollution Control Board classifies AQI between 0 and 50 as “good”, between 51 and 100 as “satisfactory”, between 101 and 200 as “moderate”, between 201 and 300 as “poor”, between 301 and 400 as “very poor”, and above 400 as “severe”.
According to the IMD, when the temperature decreases, the air gets denser and restricts the upward movement of pollutants emitted near the ground.
Earlier this month, the Graded Response Action Plan, a systematic and graded approach to tackle air pollution based on severity levels, was relaxed from the fourth or last stage to the second stage as the air quality in the city improved to “poor” from “severe” category.
(With PTI inputs)
Published – December 09, 2024 02:40 am IST