Delhi's air quality in ‘very poor’ category amid Diwali celebrations

Delhi's air quality continued to deteriorate in Delhi as people stepped out to celebrate Diwali, festival of lights on Sunday (Nov 8) evening. The city’s instantaneous Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 371 at 7 pm, in the ‘very poor’ category.

Of the 59 monitoring stations that recorded data at 7 pm, 19 were in the ‘severe’ category, seven in the ‘poor’ and the remaining 33 in the ‘very poor’. The worst AQI was recorded at Jahangirpuri at 460.

What are the AQI categories?

0-50: Good

51-100: Satisfactory

101-200: Moderate

201-300: Poor

301-400: Very Poor

401-500: Severe

The city’s average AQI for the day settled at 376 in the ‘very poor’ category, amid a deteriorating pollution situation. It had stood at 369 on Saturday.

The air quality is only expected to worsen on Monday, largely because of the bursting of crackers during Diwali celebration, followed by vehicular emissions and the stubble-burning in farms of Haryana and Punjab.

GRAP 3 in place

The Delhi government in order to tackle the winter pollution and improve air quality over the coming months in the city brought into effect Stage 3 of the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) in Delhi-NCR on Friday (Nov 6). GRAP 3 is introduced when the air quality worsens to "severe" (Between 401-500).

All non-essential construction and demolition activities, including earthwork, piling, trenching, and open-air operations of Ready-Mix Concrete (RMC) plants are banned. movement of BS-3 petrol and BS-4 diesel four-wheelers in Delhi and neighbouring NCR districts are not allowed to ply.

In order to tackle the winter pollution and improve air quality over the coming months in the national capital, new rules regarding the entry of vehicles and construction work had kicked in on Sunday, Nov 1 but these rules get stricter when GRAP 3 is introduced.

It is a measure to prevent further deterioration in air quality once pollution levels cross specified thresholds.

Under the rule government offices in Delhi-NCR are asked to work with 50 per cent of their staff, with the remaining employees working from home.