Air quality worsens in Delhi, AQI settles in 'severe' zone

Delhi battled toxic fumes on Sunday as the air quality slipped into the severe category with a reading of 459 according to the Central Pollution Control Board reported news agency PTIA thick layer of smog blanketed the city overnight leaving people gasping for airDelhirsquos average AQI climbs to 461According to data released by the Central Pollution Control Board CPCB Delhirsquos average Air Quality Index AQI climbed to 461 at 7 am on Sunday up from 431 recorded a day earlier The alarming figures underscored the deepening air quality crisis gripping the national capitalAll 40 air quality monitoring stations across Delhi reported readings in the lsquoseverersquo category with several locations nearing the maximum measurable limit Rohini emerged as one of the worstaffected areas recording an AQI of 499 followed closely by Bawana at 498 Vivek Vihar reported 495 while Ashok Vihar and Wazirpur registered AQI levels of 493 each Narela recorded 492 and Anand Vihar stood at 491Other parts of the city also remained heavily polluted ITO recorded an AQI of 485 Mundaka 486 Punjabi Bagh 478 Nehru Nagar 476 and both Chandni Chowk and Okhla registered readings of 470 reflecting widespread and persistent pollution across the capital cityThe air quality crisis was not confined to Delhi alone as several cities in the National Capital Region NCR also reported dangerously high pollution levelsNoida recorded an AQI of 470 placing it firmly in the lsquoseverersquo category while Ghaziabad followed closely with a hazardous AQI of 460 Gurugramrsquos air quality remained in the lsquovery poorrsquo category at 348 while Faridabad recorded a comparatively lower but still concerning AQI of 220 classified as lsquopoorrsquoAs per the CPCB an Air Quality Index AQI between zero 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 severeMinimum temperature settles at 82 degrees CelsiusOn the weather front the minimum temperature settled at 82 degrees Celsius 04 notch below the seasons average and the maximum temperature is likely to hover around 24 degrees Celsius reported PTIThe relative humidity was 100 per cent at 830 am the IMD saidIn light of the deteriorating air quality in the national capital the Delhi Directorate of Education on Saturday directed all schools to conduct classes for students up to Class IX and XI in a hybrid modeThe Commission for Air Quality Management CAQM has invoked StageIV actions under the Graded Response Action Plan GRAP with immediate effect to curb further worsening of air pollution levels in DelhiNCRWith inputs from PTI