On Monday, Delhi experienced a decline in air quality from ‘poor’ to ‘very poor,’ attributed to a thick layer of smog resulting from Diwali firecrackers, a violation of a Supreme Court order exacerbating air pollution. At 1:30 pm, the air quality index (AQI) in Delhi rose to 322 from 218 the previous day, as per data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
Anand Vihar, RK Puram, Punjabi Bagh, and ITO recorded AQI levels of 335, 342, 342, and 319, respectively, at 1 pm.
By 5:30 am, Delhi’s AQI reached 514 (considered ‘hazardous’ above 320) by IQAir, making it the world’s most polluted city.
Anand Vihar hit an alarming AQI of 969 at 5 am, according to aqicn.org. PM 2.5 particle concentration in the city exceeded the World Health Organization’s limit by 20 times, prompting the closure of primary classes and restrictions on truck entry.
CPCB’s AQI scale categorizes 0-50 as ‘good,’ 51-100 as ‘satisfactory,’ 101-200 as ‘moderate,’ 201-300 as ‘poor,’ 301-400 as ‘very poor,’ and 401-500 as ‘severe.’
According to SAFAR, Delhi’s air quality is anticipated to worsen, reaching ‘severe’ levels between Tuesday and Thursday, and remaining ‘severe’ to ‘very poor’ for the next six days due to calm surface winds on Tuesday morning.
