New Delhi, October 25: The air quality in Delhi deteriorated on Sunday morning with several areas in the national capital recording 'severe' levels of pollution, according to authorities. As per Delhi Pollution Control Committee data, the Air Quality Index (AQI) is at 422 in Bawana, 423 in Mundka and 416 in Jahangirpuri, which are all three in 'severe' category. According to SAFAR, extremely calm surface wind conditions prevail over the Delhi region and are forecast to continue for two days. Delhi Air Quality: Why Does Air Pollution Rises And Air Quality Start Dipping in National Capital During Winters?

On Saturday, the AQI in Delhi remained in the 'very poor' category with the Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 347.O. System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), said that some locations entered ''severe'' zone but that will be short lived as winds are expected to increase slightly. It said the air quality could improve on October 26. "The overall Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) is in the very poor category with few Delhi locations entering at higher zone but that will be short lived. This is mainly because the extremely calm local surface winds which were prevailing yesterday are likely to increase slightly and may further pick-up by Oct 26," SAFAR said.

On Friday, 10 monitoring stations in Delhi entered the 'severe' zone, according to the AQI monitoring mobile application SAMEER, developed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The air quality index (AQI) on Friday was recorded 366 while it was 302 on the previous day.

An AQI between 0 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'. There has been a significant increase in stubble fire count around Haryana, Punjab, and neighbouring regions on Thursday, which stood at 1,213. Reports inform that the 24-hour average Delhi's AQI was recorded at 256 on Wednesday, 223 on Tuesday and 244 the day before.

In a bid to control the pollution in the national capital, the Delhi government has kick-started its 'Red Light On, Gaadi Off' anti-pollution campaign for which it has deployed 2,500 environment marshals at 100 traffic signals across the city to generate awareness and curb vehicular pollution.

 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 25, 2020 08:20 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).