Air quality deteriorates to ” Very Poor” in Delhi – NCR after Diwali

Photo Credit : Hindustan Times

The air quality in Delhi and Noida deteriorated to the “very poor” level after Diwali celebration. The overall air quality index stood at 306 and 356 in Delhi and Noida this morning.

In Gurugram, the air quality index fell to 279 (poor) after Diwali celebrations.

According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) the overall air quality of the national capital is in the higher-end of ”very poor” category today. “Although the air quality is predicted to be touching SEVERE levels in the wee hours on October 28 but the peak level of particulate matter (PM) 2.5 is likely to be lowest,” said SAFAR.

Most polluted locations are Delhi University (North Campus), Pusa, Rohini-Punjabi Bagh, Wazirpur, Jahangirpuri, DTU and Bawana, Major residential areas, while the lowest polluted areas are Gurgaon, Ayananag and Nehru Stadium.

According to the Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded earlier today, the levels of PM 2.5 and PM 10 were at 423 and 462 respectively in Chandni Chowk, while major pollutant levels of PM 2.5 were at 500 in ”Severe” category, in Lodhi Road area.

An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ”good”, 51 and 100 ”satisfactory”, 101 and 200 ”moderate”, 201 and 300 ”poor”, 301 and 400 ”very poor”, and 401 and 500 ”severe”.

The highest impact of firecracker emissions (if any) is expected to be moderate and if no additional emissions due to firecrackers are added then the Air Quality will remain in the middle to the high end of ”very poor” during Diwali period.

Haryana and Punjab fire counts almost doubled from during the past 48 hours and increased from 1200 to 2700 as evident from SAFAR-multi-satellite product.

AQI will continue to remain in ”very poor” category but no prolonged extreme pollution event is expected, according to SAFAR.

On Saturday, the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) had predicted that the air quality will get even worse in coming days and the AQI was expected to be around 324 due to Diwali.

COMMENT

To curb air pollution, the Arvind Kejriwal-led government in Delhi has announced the implementation of the Odd-Even scheme from November 4 to 15.

This story was originally published by NDTV

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