Delhi wakes up to ‘very poor’ air quality; AQI hits 332

Delhiites woke up to ‘very poor’ air quality on Monday morning as the national capital’s overall air quality index (AQI) reached 332. The AQI at Pusa Road, IIT Delhi, IGI Airport Terminal 3, IIT Delhi and Mathura Road stood at 322, 313, 332, 313 and 336 respectively. 

The adjoining national capital region (NCR) also continued to witness bad air as Noida and Gurgaon continued to remain in the ‘very poor’ category and the AQI in both these cities stood at 356 and 364 respectively, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) India. 

This is an improvement from Sunday as the national capital recorded an overall AQI of 341. Areas in the national capital that recorded ‘very poor’ AQI include Alipur (357), Shadipur (321), NSIT Dwarka (348), Delhi (306), ITO (335), Sirifort (351), Mandir Marg (333), RK Puram (365) and Aya Nagar (333). 

Meanwhile, the Centre has lifted stage-4 curbs of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) on Sunday night. Restrictions under stages 1 to 3 of the GRAP will, however, remain in place. The Commission of Air Quality Management (CAQM) directed authorities concerned to lift the ban on non-BS VI diesel-run light motor vehicles in Delhi-NCR and entry of trucks into the national capital. 

(With agency inputs)

Also read: Centre's pollution watchdog lifts GRAP stage IV restrictions in Delhi-NCR amid improved AQI