Delhi pollution: AQI hits 320, ban on non-essential construction work to continue

Delhi air pollution latest updates: Delhi residents on Tuesday morning woke up to ''very poor' air quality in the national capital. The city's air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 323 as of 5:17 am, according to the data from System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR). 

Parts of Delhi such as Anand Vihar (374), Jahangirpuri (399), Lodhi Road (315) and New Moti Bagh (370) also logged poor air quality on Tuesday. Other parts of Delhi like Punjabi Bagh (419), Bawana (415) and Wazirpur (404) logged an AQI reading above 400. Air quality also dipped in neighbouring regions like Ghaziabad (321), Gurugram (261), Greater Noida (318), Noida (331) and Faridabad  (329) respectively on the same day. 

The air quality in Delhi and in the neighbouring areas went down overnight after a slight improvement a day ago. The national capital's 24-hour average AQI stood at 348 on Monday, 301 on Sunday, 319 on Saturday, 405 on Friday and 419 on Thursday.

An AQI of 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 satisfactory, 101-200 moderate, 201-300 poor, 301-400 very poor, 401-450 severe and above severe plus. Given the improved air quality in the national capital, the Centre on Saturday revoked curbs including construction work ban related to linear projects and entry of polluting trucks into Delhi.

The pollution levels witnessed a dip due to favourable wind speed and direction. All government and private schools as well as colleges in the national capital resumed classes on Monday after the curbs were removed. The pollution control body said that other curbs under GRAP-1,2, and 3 will continue. These include a ban on non-essential construction work, mining, stone crushers and diesel generators. 

Meanwhile, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) said citing air quality predictions by the India Meteorological Department (IMD)/Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology that there is no steep degradation in the overall air quality of Delhi-NCR in the coming days. It, however, did not talk about any relief for the residents of Delhi-NCR.