Capital’s air quality remains poor

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 21

Delhi's air continued to be in “very poor” category for the second consecutive day on Sunday. In the coming days the air quality is likely to deteriorate further, as per pollution agencies.

The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi stood at 301, which falls in the “very poor” category better than Saturday when the national capital registered its worst air quality of this season at 324.

An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered “good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe”.

The PM2.5 touched a new high at 167 while the level of PM10 level in Delhi stood at 293, as per the data from the Centre-run System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research (SAFAR).

The Supreme Court-appointed Environment Protection Control Authority (EPCA) on Friday held a meeting with state governments of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and the Delhi government to discuss the pollution situation in the national capital.

The Delhi government had been expressing concerns since more than a fortnight. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had warned that the capital would soon become a gas chamber as the Centre, Punjab and Haryana governments did nothing for helping farmers involved in stubble burning.

Satellite imagery by NASA had been showing spot fires burning in Haryana and Punjab. As per pollution agencies, number of factors are responsible for the deteriorating air quality, including vehicular pollution, construction activities and meteorological factors.