Delhi experienced an escalation in its hazardous air quality on Wednesday, nearing the “severe” category due to unfavorable meteorological conditions. At 8 am, the national capital’s Air Quality Index (AQI) registered at 392, approaching the “severe” range. The 24-hour average AQI recorded at 4 pm the previous day was 397, with readings of 358 on Monday and 218 on Sunday.
Several areas within the city, including ITO, RK Puram, Punjabi Bagh, IGI Airport, Dwarka, Patparganj, Sonia Vihar, Rohini, Nehru Nagar, and Anand Vihar, witnessed air pollution levels entering the severe category, marked by an AQI above 400. Neighboring areas such as Ghaziabad, Gurugram, Greater Noida, Noida, and Faridabad also reported very poor air quality.
The international standard categorizes AQI from 0 to 50 as ‘good,’ 51 to 100 as ‘satisfactory,’ 101 to 200 as ‘moderate,’ 201 to 300 as ‘poor,’ 301 to 400 as ‘very poor,’ and 401 to 450 as ‘severe.’ Beyond 450 is classified as ‘severe plus.’ Delhi, identified as the most polluted city globally by Swiss company IQAir on Tuesday, is grappling with various pollution sources, with stubble-burning contributing to 12% of the air pollution on that day, according to the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology. Strict measures, including a ban on construction work and entry of polluting trucks, will persist in line with the central government’s Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), affirmed an official from the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM).
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