Delhi’s pollution crisis: Health problems, persistent haze, and a marginal reduction in levels ascend

Due to a comparatively improved wind speed, pollution levels in Delhi and the surrounding regions decreased somewhat over night, although the concentration of harmful PM2.5 was still more than 80 times the World Health Organization’s recommended safe threshold (WHO).

For the fifth day in a row, a dense, poisonous haze covered the city, raising fears among physicians that the increased air pollution is harming youngsters and the elderly’s eyes and respiratory systems.

At some areas throughout Delhi-NCR, the quantity of PM2.5, a small particulate matter that may enter the respiratory system deeply and cause health issues, was seven to eight times higher than the government-mandated safe limit of 60 microgrammes per cubic meter. It was 80–100 times higher than the WHO-established safe threshold of 5 microgrammes per cubic meter.

Over the last week, Delhi-NCR’s air quality has become worse because to a steady decrease in temperature, calm breezes that trap pollutants, and an increase in the burning of post-harvest paddy straw across Punjab and Haryana.
Delhi’s air quality index rose by more than 200 points between October 27 and November 3, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board. On Friday, the index dropped into the “severe plus” category (over 450). The 24-hour average AQI, which is measured at 4 p.m. daily, did, however, somewhat improve, rising from 468 on Friday to 415 on Saturday.

The 24-hour average AQI on Friday was the lowest since November 12, 2021, when it reached its previous level of 471.

Hazardous air quality was also observed in nearby Ghaziabad (394), Gurugram (404), Noida (408), Greater Noida (490), and Faridabad (438).

Of all the capital cities in the world, Delhi has some of the worst air quality.

According to a research released in August by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC), air pollution in Delhi is causing people to live shorter lives by almost 12 years.

Many were forced to abandon their outside activities, including sports and morning walks, due to the dangerously high levels of pollution.

Health experts warn that youngsters breathe more quickly and so take in more toxins, which has parents concerned.

Unfavorable weather patterns, car emissions, burning paddy straw, firecrackers, and other local pollution sources all contribute to dangerously high wintertime air quality levels in Delhi-NCR.

The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) did a study and found that when the number of stubble-burning occurrences in Punjab and Haryana rises, November 1 to November 15 is when pollution in the city reaches its pinnacle.

According to a computer model-based method created by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune, smoke from stubble burning contributed 24.5 percent of the PM2.5 pollution in Delhi on Saturday, down from 35.5 percent on Friday.

The Commission for Air Quality Management, a central government panel that develops strategies to combat pollution in Delhi-NCR, officials anticipate that pollution levels will continue to decline as a result of comparatively better weather and restrictions placed on certain polluting activities, such as construction work that is not necessary, beginning on Thursday.

Citing a downward trend in the area’s AQI, the commission postponed the execution of more stringent restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan, which controls air pollution, on Friday.

The pollution control agency had issued an order banning certain types of cars and non-essential building activities only one day before.