The air quality in Delhi dipped to the severe category on Wednesday morning after clocking a slight improvement a day earlier. The situation has worsened in Mumbai too since it joined Delhi among the world’s most polluted cities last weekend.
A blanket of toxic smog covers Delhi and its surrounding cities with authorities shutting schools and banning trucks and construction activities.
The overall air quality index (AQI) in Delhi was recorded at 418 this morning, with some of the worst-affected areas being Punjabi Bagh (460), Narela (448), Bawana (462), Anand Vihar (452), and Rohini (451). Mumbai, which was among the world’s most polluted cities on Sunday, recorded an AQI of 165 this morning.
The situation isn’t any better in Noida, Gurugram and other surrounding cities. Noida average AQI this morning was 409, Gurugram 370, Faridabad (396) and Ghaziabad (382).
Authorities have invoked Stage-4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), a set of anti-pollution guidelines, to prevent the deterioration of air quality. Under this, diesel trucks are not being allowed to enter the city.
A cocktail of factors including vehicular emissions and stubble burning are being held responsible for the air pollution in Delhi.
