NEW DELHI: Delhi’s air quality recorded in the ‘very poor’ category on the morning after Diwali but the situation was relatively better than that of the previous years.
According to health experts, the air quality has not turned hazardous this year and people are not complaining of breathlessness due to strong wind which reduced the effect of firecrackers and stubble burning.
The capital’s air quality index (AQI) stood at 326 at 8 am on Tuesday.The neighbouring cities of Ghaziabad (285), Noida (320), Greater Noida (294), Gurugram (315) and Faridabad (310) reported ‘poor’ to ‘very poor’ air quality.
According to the Early Warning System of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), the air quality is predicted to remain in the ‘very poor’ category during the day (Tuesday) and is likely to improve slightly over the next two days.
An AQI between zero 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 relatively better air this morning doesn’t mean it’s good air. The PM2.5 levels at 30 out of the 35 monitoring stations in the capital were five to six times the national standard of 60 micrograms per cubic metre at 8 am.
The Indian Agricultural Research Institute reported 1,019 farm fires in Punjab, 250 in Haryana and 215 in Uttar Pradesh on Monday evening.