Delhi witnessed a major spike in the pollution levels on the occasion of Diwali. The air quality has been termed as severe now. This happened despite a cracker ban in the capital. Every year the capital witnesses such pollution levels due to crackers and subtle burning in the adjoining areas.
The Jan path area in Delhi recorded hazardous air quality. The city was covered with a thick blanket of smog in the morning after Diwali.PM10 levels crossed 500micrograms per cubic metre mark at 5A.M and reached 511 micrograms per cubic metre at 9 A.M. PM 2.5 pollution levels were 774.69 at 3A.m in the morning. The AQI touched 1645 around 1A.M.
AQI between 0-50 is good, 51-100 is moderate, 51-100 is satisfactory, 101-200 is moderate, 201-300 is considered poor, 301-400 is very poor and anything above 500 is severe.
Out of the 39 air quality monitoring stations that Delhi has, 33 reported AQI as severe.
The Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) model forecast has mentioned that there would be slight improvement in the air quality by Sunday evening. The improvement though would be minimal and the air quality would turn very poor from being severe. SAFAR also predicted that the subtle burning share would also increase on Friday and Saturday due to change in the wind directions.
The areas around the capital like Ghaziabad, Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad also recorded severe air quality on Friday morning.
