Delhi’s AQI remains ‘very poor’

The air quality index (AQI) of the national capital continued to be in the ‘very poor’ category, a day after the city was the most polluted in the country. At 9 am, the AQI stood at 332. (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal)

The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology has predicted that Delhi’s AQI will remain in the ‘very poor’ and ‘severe’ categories for the next six days. (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal)

Among the 40 continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations spread across the city, 27 reported ‘very poor’ air quality. (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal)

Anand Vihar recorded the highest AQI at 389, followed closely by Jahangirpuri at 380—both classified as ‘very poor’. (PTI)

According to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute data, Wednesday saw 57 cases of stubble burning in Punjab, 15 in Haryana, 68 in Uttar Pradesh and none in Delhi. (PTI)

The data on Wednesday showed that the contribution of road dust and construction activities was around 3%. The transport sector remained the highest contributor at 13.5%. (PTI)

Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director of Research and Advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment said, “Spike in pollution even with low stubble burning shows the increasing impact of local and regional sources of pollutants in Delhi-NCR. With this being the festival season, the major cause of pollution is vehicle emissions due to traffic congestion.” (PTI)

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Thursday said the AAP government’s ongoing anti-pollution drive will be intensified with the deployment of Civil Defence volunteers to check violations, and restrict the entry of diesel buses into the national capital. (PTI)

The Central Pollution Control Board on Monday invoked the second stage of the Graded Response Action Plan in the national capital amid deteriorating air quality levels, imposing restrictions on the use of coal and firewood as well as diesel generator sets. (PTI)

The action plan will be in force in addition to the Stage I GRAP, which has already been implemented. GRAP, a set of emergency measures to curb air pollution, is invoked stage-wise by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in NCR and adjoining areas. (PTI)