Delhi Air Quality update: Delhi chokes as air quality deteriorates day after ‘improvement’, THIS area logs ‘severe-plus’ AQI at…

Delhi Air Quality update: Delhi’s air quality worsened on Thursday as AQI slipped to 373, in the ‘very poor’ category, day after the capital city had witnessed a minor improvement with a 24-hour average AQI of 334.

Delhi AQI slips to ‘very poor’

According to Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) data, 15 of Delhi’s 40 operational monitoring stations recorded AQI levels in the ‘severe’ category, with Anand Vihar logging the highest AQI reading at 441, in the ‘severe-plus’ category. Delhi’s 24-hour average AQI stood at 373, with 24 monitoring stations recording an Air Quality Index (AQI) in ‘very poor’ bracket, as per data from CPCB’s Sameer app.

An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51-100 ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 201-300 ‘poor’, 301-400 ‘very poor’ and 401-500 ‘severe’, according to CPCB standards.

What were the major pollutants?

As per data from the Decision Support System for Air Quality Management vehicular emissions remained the single largest contributor to Delhi’s pollution, accounting for 18.3 per cent of pollutants, while industries in Delhi and its peripheral areas contributed 9.2 per cent, followed by residential sources at 4.5 per cent and construction activities at 2.5 per cent.

Additionally, waste burning accounted for 1.6 per cent, road dust 1.3 per cent, other sectors 1.2 per cent, and power generation in Delhi contributed about 1.2 per cent, and neighbouring NCR districts also added significantly to the pollution load, with Jhajjar contributing 12.3 per cent, Sonipat 8.8 per cent, Rohtak 4.8 per cent, Jind 3.1 per cent, Bhiwani 1.4 per cent and Gurugram 1.1 per cent, the data showed.

Delhi air quality expected to deteriorate further

Visibility across the national capital was significant reduced due to a thick blanket of haze caused by the pollution, with air quality expected to remain in the ‘very poor’ category till Saturday.

Delhi’s AQI is likely to remain in the ‘very poor’ category on Friday and Saturday, and may deteriorate further to ‘severe’ on Sunday, Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi has predicted.

(With inputs from agencies)