Air Quality Index touches dangerous levels in Delhi

New Delhi: It seems like Armageddon in Delhi on Sunday as the air quality index (AQI) touched dangerous levels of 625 pushing the city back into the severe plus category after a brief respite on Saturday evening.

While the Met Department had indicated some relief on Sunday, it has not materialised with the envelope of haze trapping the pollutants reducing visibility.

There was some relief after sporadic rains on Saturday as the AQI fell below 400. If the current spike persists, the next move will be to ban plying of non-essential trucks in the Delhi-NCR region.

The odd even scheme on plying of vehicles will kick-off in Delhi from Monday which Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced weeks back. The timing has turned out to be apt for the dangerous air quality prevailing now.

According to Safar India, the PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels were both in the severe category at 648 and 475 respectively, implying hazardous levels.

These AQI levels are hazardous for everyone and the advisory is to avoid outdoor activity.

Meanwhile, Noida District Magistrate Brajesh Narain Singh has announced closure of all schools, government and private for two days till November 5.

Delhi had earlier announced closure of schools till November 5, following the announcement of the public health emergency.

In a notice, Singh said that the use of buses and private vehicles for ferrying children to schools escalates the number of vehicles on the roads leading to more pollution.

He said that the Uttar Pradesh pollution authorities have detected high levels of PM 10 and PM 2.5 in Noida with the increase in air pollution.

The Environment Pollution Control Authority in its advisory on public health emergency has cautioned on outdoor exposure, especially for children and the aged population. All construction activities and polluting industries have been shut down till November 5.

Published on: Nov 3, 2019 at 12:54 IST

IANS