Behind air crisis: High baseline pollution, multiplicity of factors

Delhi's pollution remains severe, with AQI at 441. Reducing sources won't suffice; a unified effort beyond politics is crucial for improvement.

New Delhi Both pollution and the political blame game around it have become toxic cliches in Delhi. What would it take to actually bring down pollution in Delhi to permissible levels? According to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) this would work out to an AQI (Air Quality Index) reading of up to 100.

Vehicles ply on a road as the sky is enveloped with smog after Delhi's air quality worsened due to air pollution, in New Delhi, India, on Wednesday. (REUTERS)

Building a quantitative correspondence between pollution levels and its causes requires the use of a modelling exercise. For Delhi, these estimates are given by