Delhi’s air quality deteriorated on Monday, Diwali day, with pollution levels at 34 out of 38 monitoring stations recorded in the ‘red zone’, indicating ‘very poor’ to ‘severe’ air quality.
According to official data, Delhi’s 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) at 4 pm was 345, which falls in the ‘very poor’ category, while it was recorded at 326 on Sunday.
Let us tell you that Red Zone means ‘very poor’ to ‘severe’ air quality.
Between Monday-Tuesday, a thick blanket of smog was seen in Delhi and the average AQI was recorded at 531. This is 1.8 times more than the national average.
The Meteorological Department says that due to no wind on the evening of Diwali, there was fog in the sky. There is a possibility of partly cloudy sky in many areas of Delhi on Tuesday morning.
According to the ‘Sameer’ app of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), four monitoring stations already reported air quality in the ‘severe’ category, with AQI levels above 400. In this, AQI was recorded at 417 in Dwarka, 404 in Ashok Vihar, 423 in Wazirpur and 404 in Anand Vihar.
Amidst increasing pollution in Delhi, Graded Response Action Plan i.e. Grap-2 has been implemented. Even before Diwali, Delhi’s air had become poisonous. In such a situation, diesel generators were banned. Parking fees were increased to reduce the use of private vehicles. Services of CNG-electric buses and metro were increased. Permission was given to run generators running on natural gas, bio gas, LPG.
Nearly 30 monitoring stations in Delhi reported the AQI in the ‘very poor’ category with levels above 300. According to the data, air quality was recorded in the ‘very poor’ category at 31 out of 38 monitoring stations in the afternoon, while it was in the ‘severe’ category at three stations.
Let us tell you that the air quality in Delhi is expected to reach ‘severe’ category on Tuesday and Wednesday. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 to 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 to 200 ‘moderate’, 201 to 300 ‘poor’, 301 to 400 ‘very poor’ and 401 to 500 ‘severe’.