Activity continued on Saturday in the national capital Delhi over toxic air and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list. On one hand, the pollution level is increasing public distress, while on the other, allegations and counter-allegations among political parties have intensified over the issue of lakhs of names being removed from the voter list.
In Delhi, the Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 367 at 5 am on Saturday, which falls in the very poor category. However, the situation was even more serious in several areas. The AQI was recorded at 445 at IIT Delhi, 434 at Punjabi Bagh and 428 at Vivek Vihar. Of the total 59 monitoring stations, air quality at 22 remained in the severe category. In view of the pollution situation, the Commission for Air Quality Management has implemented Stage III restrictions under GRAP in Delhi-NCR. According to the weather forecast, the air may remain in the severe category from November 7 to 9.
Meanwhile, the political dispute over the SIR of the voter list has also deepened. Opposition parties have accused the Election Commission of arbitrarily deleting voters’ names. Opposition parties, including the Congress, had recently held a protest in Delhi and demanded the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner.
In the meantime, the office of Delhi’s Chief Electoral Officer has provided relief, saying that around 47.6 lakh voters excluded from the draft voter list will get an opportunity to submit enumeration forms again. These include voters recorded under the absent, shifted, dead or duplicate categories. Eligible voters will be able to apply under the prescribed process to have their names included in the list.
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