Delhi’s Air Quality Is Getting Better, But There Are Still Some Areas That Are’Severe’

The national capital’s overall air quality remained “very poor” but somewhat improved on Sunday morning. Nonetheless, a few locations in Delhi were still classified as “severe.” An AQI of 433 was reported this morning in Anand Vihar and 434 at Ashok Vihar, according to government statistics. Comparably, Bawana’s AQI was 437, and Jahangirpuri’s AQI was 450, both of which were in the severe range.

The IGI airport reported an AQI of 360 (very bad), while the ITO in Delhi recorded an AQI of 382 (extremely poor).

The Commission for Air Quality Management, or CAQM, lifted the restrictions imposed under GRAP 4, allowing trucks and buses to enter the city (apart from BS-3 and BS-4 petrol and diesel vehicles) and lifting the ban on ongoing construction activities, in response to a notable improvement in the overall AQI in the nation’s capital last week. Still in effect, nevertheless, were the limitations outlined in Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) stages 1 through 3.

At a meeting on Friday, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai discussed the rising levels of pollution in the city and said that relevant organizations have been instructed to keep an eye on the issue.

There has been a noticeable rise in Delhi’s pollution levels. We discussed it in our meeting. There are now relatively few instances of stubble burning, yet pollution levels are still rising. For this, scientists found two to three reasons. The first is that 36% of pollution comes from vehicles. The burning of biomass is the second reason. After seeing this, we took some very important choices,” Gopal Rai said, as cited by ANI.

“We released the GRAP 3 regulations to reduce vehicular emissions. In order to regulate the burning of biomass, we have instructed the relevant organizations to keep a close eye on this. This directive is being provided to the MCD, Revenue, DDA, and NDMC in particular about the fires that are starting at different locations inside the parks,” he said.

A score of 0 represents “good,” 100 to 200 represents “moderate,” 200 to 300 represents “poor,” 300 to 400 represents “very poor,” and 400 to 500 or above is “severe” on the Air Quality Index.