For the first time in this season, Delhi's air quality plummeted to the "severe" category on Monday. According to government's air quality monitor SAFAR, the air quality index (AQI) today afternoon was recorded 500 overall in the national capital. The major pollutants PM 2.5 reached more than 500 and PM 10 was recorded 446 in the city. SAFAR stands for System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research.
Area-wise, Delhi University was the worst-hit from the pollution. The AQI in North Campus was 740 at around 1:15 pm on Monday. Whereas, in one of Delhi's biggest wholesale market--Chandni Chowk, the AQI also touched "severe" category at 677. Both PM 2.5 and PM 10 were at over 500. In area around IIT-Delhi, the AQI was also in "severe" category at 460.
In Noida, the AQI is at 674. However, Gurugram's AQI was in 'very poor' category with 383 overall.
Mumbai
Mumbai has been far better in terms of air quality. The city's overall AQI on the day after Diwali was recorded at 76, which is in "satisfactory" category. However, PM 2.5 was recorded the worst at Navi Mumbai with AQI at 271, which is poor category.
Pune
In Pune the AQI was 91, which is a satisfactory level.
Ahemadabad
Even in Ahemadabad the overall AQI was satisfactory as well at 90.
Kolkata
The air quality in the city and the surrounding areas was recorded uunder "moderate" category on Kali Puja on Sunday. The AQI was at 182 at Ballygunge, while it was at 111 in Bidhan Nagar at 11 pm.
At Jadavpur monitoring station, the AQI was recorded at 143 and at Rabindra Bharati it was measured at 173.
Apart from Delhi and Noida, major cities across the country witnessed satisfactory levels of air quality. On Diwali, the national capital recorded 999 level of AQI at 11pm. SAFAR has projected a lesser level of pollution on Tuesday. It has predicted PM 2.5 at 345 (very poor category) and PM10 at 195 (moderate category) for October 29.
An AQI between 0-50 is considered "good", 51-100 "satisfactory", 101-200 "moderate", 201-300 "poor", 301-400 "very poor", and 401-500 "severe". Above 500 is "severe-plus emergency" category.
Also read: Delhi's air quality deteriorates from 'very poor' to 'hazardous' post-Diwali