Delhi air turns brown: AQI inches towards ‘severe’

Data procured from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), out of 35 monitoring stations showed that the AQI levels at five stations were in the ‘severe’ (401 to 500) category. Mundka recorded the highest AQI of 422, followed by 415 at Anand Vihar.

PM 10 and PM 2.5 remain the prominent pollutants in the city, according to the CPCB.

At Anand Vihar, the PM 10 level recorded was 857 µg/m3 at 9 am on Thursday. PM 10 levels saw a sharp rise from around 8 pm on Wednesday – the level rose from 476 µg/m3 at 7 pm to 847 µg/m3 at midnight, as per the data. This is eight times that of the 24-hour national ambient air quality standard of 100 µg/m3 for PM10.

Meanwhile, PM 2.5 levels at Anand Vihar saw a similar spike, from 231 µg/m3 at 8 pm on Wednesday to 508 µg/m3 at 9 am on Thursday, which is more than eight times the 24-hour national ambient air quality standard of 60 µg/m3 for PM2.5.

The air quality remains in the ‘very poor’ category across several parts of north India. The AQI was in the ‘very poor’ category in other parts of the NCR as well on Thursday morning – in Faridabad, Greater Noida, Karnal, Jind, Sonipat, and Rohtak. At Hisar in Haryana and Hanumangarh in Rajasthan, the AQI was in the ‘severe’ category on Thursday morning.