Delhi’s air quality continued to deteriorate on Sunday, with thick smog engulfing the city’s skies. Air quality at Anand Vihar reached “severe” levels, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) reading 424 as of 9 p.m., as per the Sameer mobile app.
This marked the worst air quality in the country.
Several locations in the city continued to witness higher air pollution post-Diwali. Fifteen monitoring stations recorded air quality levels in the ‘severe’ zone, having AQI readings over 400, reported news agency PTI.
Monitoring stations that reported air pollution in the “severe zone” were from Ashok Vihar, Bawana, Dwarka, Jahangirpuri, Mundka, NSIT Dwarka, Najafgarh, Nehru Nagar, Okhla Phase 2, Patparganj, Punjabi Bagh, Rohini, Wazirpur, and Vivek Vihar.
The city’s 24-hour average AQI, recorded at 4 pm daily, stood at 382, worsening from 316 the previous day. A temporary respite from pollution, with help from the winds, was short-lived, as air quality continued to worsen post-Diwali festivities when a complete cracker ban was widely flouted.
The national capital also recorded its lowest nighttime temperature so far, as thick smog and haze make sunlight penetration almost impossible during the day.
According to the weather department, Sunday’s minimum temperature was 16.5 degrees Celsius, 1.2 degrees above normal, and the maximum temperature was 33.2 degrees Celsius, 2.7 degrees above normal. The agency said shallow fog conditions are likely to continue on Monday.
Delhi to deploy civil defence volunteers
Delhi chief minister Atishi announced that 10,000 civil defence volunteers, who were removed as bus marshals last year, will be deployed in the next 2-4 days to assist various agencies fighting air pollution. These personnel were removed last year after objections from the revenue and finance departments.
“I want to ask the BJP leaders to stop their dirty politics on the bus marshal issue. First, their salaries were stopped in April last year, and finally, they were removed in October 2023 due to BJP’s conspiracy,” Atishi charged.