HomeDelhi's air quality remains 'severe' with AQI at 533

Delhi's air quality remains 'severe' with AQI at 533

Delhi's overall air quality continues to remain in the 'severe' category with the AQI standing at 533. Due to severe air pollution, several residents of Delhi are complaining of itchy throats and watery eyes.

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By CNBCTV18.com November 6, 2021, 5:34:36 PM IST (Updated)

Delhi's air quality remains 'severe' with AQI at 533
Even two days after Diwali, the air quality in Delhi and surrounding areas remain in the "severe" zone. According to the Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), Delhi's overall air quality was found to be in the 'severe' category with the overall AQI standing at 533 at 6:00 am today (November 6).


Around 8 pm on the day of Diwali (November 4), Delhi's air quality index had entered the severe zone. The AQI stood at 382. The air quality of surrounding cities — Faridabad (424), Ghaziabad (442), Gurgaon (423) and Noida (431) — also turned severe on Diwali day.

The spike in AQI comes in the wake of people continuing to burst firecrackers despite a ban on it by the Delhi government. Earlier, on October 27, the Delhi government had launched an initiative — ‘Patakhe Nahi Diye Jalao’ — to create awareness against the bursting of crackers. Delhi Police seized 13,000 kg of illegal firecrackers and arrested 33 people under the anti-cracker drive.

However, firecrackers are not the only cause for Delhi's air pollution. According to SAFAR, the air quality would have fallen to the “very poor” or “severe” zone by Thursday (November 4) night even if there were no firecracker emissions. It added that the contribution of stubble burning to pollutants in Delhi is around 25 percent.

Due to severe air pollution, several residents of Delhi are complaining of itchy throats and watery eyes.

Meanwhile, SAFAR has predicted an improvement in AQI by November 7. "Relief is expected only from the evening of November 7 but AQI will fluctuate within the 'very poor' range," it said.

An AQI within the range of 0-5 is regarded as 'good', 51-100 is 'satisfactory', 101-200 is 'moderate', 201-300 is 'poor' and 301-400 is 'very poor' and 401-500 is considered 'severe'.
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