Delhi’s skies were shrouded with a thick blanket of smog soon after the festivities of Diwali were over.
The pollution meter (PM) 2.5 levels stood at 655.07 in Janpath and at 821 in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Friday (November 5), according to ANI. Air quality index (AQI) went up to 952 in Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and climbed to 699 in the PDGAV college area in the national capital.
Capital’s 24-hour average AQI stood at 382 on Thursday, up from 314 on Wednesday, 303 on Tuesday and 281 on Monday.
AQI reached the dangerous level of 996 in Siri Fort area of Delhi, which is ‘hazardous’ as per the weather monitoring agency Skymet. Fog conditions intensified in the Delhi-NCR region with moderate fog and visibility range between 200-500m at two airports-- Safdarjung and IGI Palam from 5:30 am-8:30 am.
IGI Palam airport’s lowest visibility was at 350m while the city side had a much poorer visibility at 200m, as per the Met Department. Capital’s 24-hour average AQI stood at 382 on Thursday, up from 314 on Wednesday, 303 on Tuesday and 281 on Monday.
It reached in Delhi’s neighbouring cities - Faridabad (999), Ghaziabad (839), Gurugram (792) and Noida (999) at “hazardous” levels.
The air quality was a 'severe' level in the neighbouring cities of Faridabad (424), Ghaziabad (442), Gurgaon (423) and Noida (431).
“The overall air quality of Delhi is plunged into the upper end of very poor category… It will continue to fall now and may enter at the edge of the “very poor” to “severe” category by tonight…,” SAFAR said on its portal.
It further noted that some respite is likely from November 7 evening but AQI will oscillate within ‘very poor’ range.
Experts believe the air quality became severe due to conditions like calm winds, low temperature and low mixing height, emissions from firecrackers and stubble burning.
Delhiites continued to burst crackers despite the deteriorating air quality in the national capital and state government’s ban on bursting and sale of firecrackers. Meanwhile, people in Tamil Nadu and Telangana also burst firecrackers to celebrate Diwali.