New Delhi:
Pollution
levels in the national capital dropped marginally on Monday morning due to a
slight increase in wind speed, but the air quality remained in the ‘severe’
category. At 4.38 am, Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 438. The AQI
at Alipur, Narela and Bawana were registered at 493, 486 and 472 respectively.
On Sunday, the national capital’s average AQI stood at 494,
the highest since November 6, 2016 when it was 497. 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 falls in the ‘severe plus’ category.
In the National Capital Region (NCR), Noida (452), Ghaziabad
(474) and Greater Noida (454), Gurgaon (396), Faridabad (426) were breathing
extremely polluted air. On Sunday,
21 of the 37 air quality monitoring stations recorded AQI between 490 and 500
with air quality sensors at Aya Nagar, Ashok Vihar, Anand Vihar and Aurobindo
Marg peaking out at 7 pm.
The Delhi government had on Friday directed closure of
schools till November 5 and banned construction activities after the Supreme
Court-mandated Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority
declared a public health emergency as air quality plummeted. (PTI)
