Delhi’s air quality in ‘poor’ category, AQI stands at 256

The overall air quality in Delhi remained in the ‘poor’ quality on Thursday with Air Quality Index (AQI) at 256, according to data by System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR)- India.

As per the latest data from SAFAR, the air quality around Delhi University was recorded at 316 (very poor) in the morning hours, while in the IIT area, it was at 256.

The average AQI was 176 in Gurugram (moderate) and 256 (poor) in Noida according to Safar India. Meanwhile, Delhi’s average AQI stood at 252 at 8 pm on Wednesday. On Tuesday, it stood at 220 at 11 am which came down to 216 at 9 pm.

To mitigate the pollution, water was sprinkled through an anti-smog gun in Anand Vihar area in the morning hours on Thursday, as per the visuals shared by news agency ANI.

“The pollution situation is very poor. There is coughing and burning in the throat for the last few days. There seems to be no solution as it happens every year,” Bhagwati Prasad, a local resident told ANI.

Earlier on Wednesday, Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai said the city government will re-launch the “Red Light on Gaadi Off” campaign from today to curb vehicular pollution in the national capital. He also urged the neighbouring states to ban firecrackers ahead of the upcoming Diwali keeping in view the measures put in place in the city to tackle pollution.

According to the Centre’s Air Quality Early Warning System for the national capital, the city’s air quality is likely to fluctuate between the poor and very poor categories in the coming days in wake of upcoming festive and winter season. Several incidents of firecracker burning were also reported from parts of Delhi on the occasion of Dussehra on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the second phase of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) has been implemented in Delhi to reduce the effect of increased pollution in the national capital. Under GRAP-2 restrictions, there will be a ban on the use of coal and wood-fired stoves, the frequency of CNG and electric buses will be increased, regular cleaning of roads and a sprinkling of water will be done, the traffic police will ensure there are no traffic jams to curb the pollution.

The national capital’s air quality had turned very poor on Sunday for the first time since May, mainly due to a drop in temperature and wind speed, which allowed pollutants to accumulate. Unfavourable meteorological conditions and a cocktail of emissions from firecrackers and paddy straw burning, in addition to local sources of pollution, push Delhi-NCR’s air quality to hazardous levels around Diwali every year.