Delhi Air Quality Deteriorates to 'Very Poor' for First Time This Season; Three Stations Record 'Severe' AQI

Delhi was blanketed by a layer of smog on Monday as the national capital recorded its first 'very poor' air quality of the season and three out of the seven monitoring stations recorded air quality 400, which falls under the severe category.

The AQI in the city remained at 324, the highest since Feb 4 this year when it was 339, in the 'very poor' category. This is the highest level of pollution in 271 days (9 months).

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Air quality was 'severe' at three monitoring stations at 4 pm. The worst air quality reading was recorded by Jahangirpuri with a AQI of 436 followed by Rohini with 415 and Punjabi Bagh with 413.

Of the city's 58 stations, 37 recorded 'very poor' air quality, 17 were in the 'poor' category, three reported 'severe' air quality and only one station recorded 'moderate' air quality.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board , an AQI between zero and 50 is classified as 'good', 51-100 as 'satisfactory', 101-200 as 'moderate', 201-300 as 'poor', 301-400 as 'very poor' and 401-500 as 'severe'.

PM2.5 was the biggest pollutant in the national capital, the CPCB added.

Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) particles are 2.5 micrometres in size or smaller, and can enter deep into the lungs and even into the bloodstream. Vehicular emissions and industrial processes, construction and road dust, waste burning and other combustion processes are the major sources of these particles.

The air quality data is received on the second day of the Delhi government's pollution clampdown.

The Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) for Delhi says that the AQI of the national capital is expected to stay at the ‘very poor’ category from November 3 to 5. It is expected to slightly improve to the 'poor' category in the next 6 days.

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The transport sector's contribution to the pollution on Monday was 19.2 per cent while industries in Delhi and its surrounding regions contributed 4.2 per cent, according to the Decision Support System for Delhi.

Residential activities accounted for 4.9 per cent, energy 1.8 per cent, waste burning 1.8 per cent and other sectors 1.3 per cent of the other sources in Delhi.

Jhajjar had the highest share of pollution at 6.9 per cent among the adjoining National Capital Region districts followed by Sonipat at 5.1 per cent, Gurugram at 2.9 per cent, Rohtak at 2.7 per cent, Ghaziabad at 2.6 per cent, Baghpat at 2.4 per cent, Panipat and Bhiwani at 2 per cent each and Gautam Buddha Nagar at 1.9 per cent.

The other pollution sources accounted for 20.7 per cent of pollution and stubble burning accounted for 8.4 per cent, DSS estimates show.

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