NEW DELHI: Delhi residents awoke to dense smog on Thursday morning, causing a sharp drop in visibility and pushing air quality into the ‘severe’ category.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the city’s average Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 432. Anand Vihar recorded an AQI of 473, IGI Airport (T3) 435, and ITO 421, based on CPCB data at 7.00 am.
‘Severe’ category
Delhi’s AQI has consistently stayed in the “very poor” range since October 30. Wednesday marked the first instance this season where it reached the “severe” category.
The smog, which had been lingering over parts of Punjab and eastern Pakistan for several days, extended to large areas of northern India by early Wednesday.
It quickly combined with local pollutants, creating a dense, toxic haze across the NCR. Delhi’s average AQI rose to 418, the worst in the country. The last time Delhi recorded a higher AQI was on January 14, at 447.
Despite the high AQI, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) described it as an “episodic event” and opted not to implement restrictive measures under Stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).
The CAQM stated that AQI levels were likely to improve to the “very poor” range by Friday due to anticipated strong winds.
The CPCB classifies AQI as follows: 0-50 as “good,” 51-100 “satisfactory,” 101-200 “moderate,” 201-300 “poor,” 301-400 “very poor,” 401-450 “severe,” and above 450 as “severe plus.”