Delhi enters ‘red zone’ as AQI crosses 400 mark, becomes second-most polluted city in country

Delhiites are facing increasingly toxic air quality each day, with pollution levels crossing the 400 mark in several parts of the city on Saturday, making the national capital one of the most polluted cities in the country.

The 24-hour average AQI, reported at 4 pm every day, stood at 361 on Saturday, placing Delhi in the ‘red zone’ and making it the second most polluted city in the country, according to data from Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

Several parts of the city recorded pollution levels in the ‘severe’ category. Monitoring stations reported an AQI of 404 at Alipur, 402 at ITO, 406 at Nehru Nagar, 411 at Vivek Vihar, 420 at Wazirpur, and 418 at Burari, according to the CPCB's Sameer app data from 38 monitoring stations across the capital.

In the NCR region, Noida recorded an AQI of 354, Greater Noida 336, and Ghaziabad 339, all falling in the ‘very poor’ category, according to the CPCB data.

On Friday, Delhi recorded an AQI of 322, ranking first among the most polluted cities in the country.

PM2.5 and PM10 remained the key pollutants on Saturday.

According to Decision Support System (DSS) for air quality forecasting, stubble burning contributed around 30 per cent to Delhi’s pollution, while the transport sector accounted for 15.2 per cent on Sunday.

Satellite data showed 100 stubble-burning incidents in Punjab, 18 in Haryana, and 164 in Uttar Pradesh on Friday.

The Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi has predicted that the city’s air quality will remain in the ‘very poor’ category over the next few days. Since Diwali, the national capital’s air quality has consistently remained ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’, occasionally slipping into the ‘severe’ zone.

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