Delhi air pollution: National capital records worst AQI in a month

Air quality in Delhi worsened on Tuesday as the air quality index rose to 433 in the ‘severe category’, with a toxic haze blanketing the city. It was the worst air quality in almost a month — a higher AQI than this was last recorded on November 19 at 460.

The air quality is likely to stay similar on Wednesday, but might improve to ‘very poor’ category on Thursday.

The air quality is likely to stay severe on Wednesday, but it may improve to very poor on Thursday.
However, the Met department has placed a yellow alert for moderate to dense fog over the next three days. On early Tuesday, Delhi saw moderate fog with the lowest visibility of 350 metres at Safdarjung, the city’s base station.

In the past 48 hours, Delhi witnessed a sharp decline in air quality after winds turned calm and there was the formation of shallow to moderate fog. Central Pollution Control Board’s data shows that AQI was 379, very poor, at 4 pm on Monday, but it rose to 401 in the severe range at 10 pm.

Similar conditions are likely to persist on Wednesday, but the wind speed may rise on Thursday after the influence of the western disturbance is over. This November recorded eight severe days, including two severe-plus, when AQI crossed 450, and 22 very poor days. It also witnessed AQI reaching 494 on a scale of up to 500 on Nov 18, making it the second most polluted day ever. In comparison to Nov, the first fortnight of Dec was relatively better than the past year.Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of research and advocacy at Centre for Science and Environment, said, “We know from past experience that more pollution spikes happen during the second half of winter — after the crop burning season is over — due to the intensification of cold and calm conditions. This indicates high and elevated levels of pollution in the city and the region.”Pointing out that the annual average and the winter average of PM2.5 levels took an upward curve last year, she emphasised that action must be ramped up to ensure Delhi continues to reduce the annual average level.

In response to alarming pollution levels in the capital, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has re-imposed Stage-IV (‘Severe+’) measures from the updated Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to combat the worsening air quality on Monday.

In a tweet, the CAQM announced, “Considering the rise in the AQI of Delhi owing to highly unfavourable meteorological conditions and absolute calm wind conditions, the CAQM Sub-Committee on GRAP called for an emergency meeting.” Following this, the committee decided to impose Stage-IV measures across the entire National Capital Region (NCR) with immediate effect.

Furthermore, the Delhi Directorate of Education (DoE) has instructed all schools to adopt a hybrid learning model for students up to Class V, effective immediately.

According to a circular issued on Monday, the directive applies to government, government-aided, unaided private schools under the DoE, NDMC, MCD, and Delhi Cantonment Board.

The circular also extends hybrid learning to students in grades VI-IX and XI across Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, and Noida, where online learning is feasible. This comes after all schools in Delhi switched to a hybrid mode on November 25, with in-person classes resuming on December 5.

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