Delhi wakes up to toxic air after Diwali, AQI turns 'severe' in several places

At 9:05 am, the city’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 356, falling in the ‘very poor’ category.

Delhi’s air quality deteriorated on Tuesday morning after a large number of people in the national capital region or NCR celebrated Diwali with firecrackers on Monday night. Thirty-three out of 36 monitoring stations recorded pollution levels in the ‘red zone’, indicating ‘very poor’ to ‘severe’ air quality across the national capital.

Delhi and its neighbouring cities are expected to further slip into the ‘severe’ category more widely.

Check Delhi AQI live updates here.

At 9:05 am on Tuesday, the city’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 356, falling in the ‘very poor’ category. Notably, Delhi’s 24-hour average AQI, which is reported and published by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) at 4pm every day, stood at 345, which also falls in the ‘very poor’ category.

The CPCB categorises AQI between 0 and 50 as 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'.

Delhi AQI

According to the SAMEER app developed by the CPCB, four monitoring stations had AQI levels over 400, indicating ‘severe’ air quality across the region. These stations were Bawana (431), Burari Crossing (404), Jahangirpuri (407), and Wazirpur (408).

Only three stations, according to the app, had AQI levels below 300. The stations falling in the ‘poor’ category were DTU (258), Sirifort (272), and Sri Aurobindo Marg (244).

Visuals shared by news agency PTI showed a thick blanket of smog covering the city and reducing visibility on several major roads.

Delhi and its neighbouring cities are expected to further slip into the ‘severe’ category more widely on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Noida and Ghaziabad AQI

As per the latest update, the app showed that Noida’s AQI stood at 324, falling into the ‘very poor’ category. Meanwhile, Ghaziabad was also in the same category, as the region’s AQI also stood at 324.

Notably, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) announced the implementation of Stage II of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) on Sunday across Delhi-NCR.

On October 15, the Supreme Court allowed the sale and use of green firecrackers in Delhi-NCR from 6 am to 7 pm, and 8 pm to 10 pm, on Diwali eve and the day of the festival.