Delhi’s air quality improves slightly, but remains ‘severe’

Neeraj Mohan

New Delhi, November 17

In a marginal relief for Delhi residents, the city’s air quality showed a slight improvement on Friday, marking a 14-point reduction in the AQI for the first time since it worsened post-Diwali fireworks.

Capital records 405 AQI

• The AQI stood at 405 at 4 pm on Friday, down from 419 a day before but lingering in the “severe” category
• The air quality remained a concern in various locations, with 23 spots registering the “severe” category

Despite this improvement, the AQI still stood at 405 at 4 pm on Friday, down from 419 a day before but lingering in the “severe” category.

The air quality remained a concern in various locations, with 23 spots registering the “severe” category and localities like Dwarka, Nehru Nagar, Mundka, Wazirpur and Punjabi Bagh experiencing exceptionally poor air quality with AQI readings surpassing 440.

The AQI scale categorises levels from zero to 50 as “good”, 51 to 100 as “satisfactory”, 101 to 200 as “moderate”, 201 to 300 as “poor”, 301 to 400 as “very poor”, 401 to 450 as “severe”, and above 450 as “severe plus”. Persisting under the grip of severe pollution for the past few days, Delhi-NCR’s air quality has prompted Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai to label it as a situation affecting the entire northern region of India.

Seeking the intervention of the Central Environment Ministry to address the air crisis, Rai emphasised that the problem extended beyond Delhi, affecting Haryana, Rajasthan and several districts in western UP.

While a special team in Delhi is enforcing the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) regulations and intensifying efforts to control pollution from vehicular emissions and construction activities, Rai stressed the need for collective action throughout northern India.

Calling for the Centre’s intervention, he urged the Union Environment Minister to convene a meeting of environment ministers and take effective measures in line with the CAQM’s directives.

Rai noted that some BS III and BS IV private buses were still entering Delhi. The Transport Department had been directed to initiate a special campaign to address this issue. However, Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena criticised the Delhi Government, asserting that the city required action, not mere posturing, to combat the air pollution crisis.

The Central Pollution Control Board’s air quality bulletin identified five cities, including Delhi, Churu, Dholpur, Hanumangarh and Sri Ganganagar, with “severe” air quality on Friday. Additionally, 24 cities, including Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, Noida and Sonepat, continued to experience “very poor” air quality for the fifth consecutive day.