Delhi-NCR air quality still ‘severe’ today? Check latest updates on AQI as schools remain closed

A day after a marginal improvement in the air quality, Delhi’s pollution levels again turned ‘severe’ on Wednesday morning, with the air quality index (AQI) in Anand Vihar clocking at 452, in RK Puram at 433, in Punjabi Bagh at 460 and in ITO at 413.

According to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi’s 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 395 on Tuesday, bringing a marginal improvement from the 421 recorded on Monday.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.

The condition in Dwarka was no different as the AQI was 432 at 6am, with PM2.5 remaining a prominent pollutant. In Uttar Pradesh’s Noida, the AQI again turned ‘severe’ (416), from the ‘very poor’ category on Tuesday, the CPCB website showed.

The AQI across Gurugram improved slightly due to better wind speed, but it is still in the ‘very poor’ category. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court questioned the Aam Aadmi Party government’s odd-even car rationing scheme effectiveness in Delhi and termed it “all optics”.

Raj Niwas officials said the file on implementation of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) stage IV measures sent to Lt Governor K Saxena by the AAP dispensation states that no decision has been taken on the enforcement of odd-even scheme. The government has already announced its implementation from November 13 to November 20.

The Supreme Court, which was hearing a matter relating to debilitating air pollution in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), asked the counsel for the Delhi government whether the odd-even scheme had succeeded when it was implemented earlier.

The Supreme Court also directed Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to ensure crop residue burning was stopped “forthwith”, saying it cannot let “people die” due to pollution.

Noting that air pollution impacts the health of everyone, especially children, Uttar Pradesh minister Arun Saxena urged people to not burn firecrackers on Diwali “as far as possible”.

On Tuesday, Punjab reported over 1,500 stubble-burning incidents while many parts in Haryana saw air quality indices in the ‘severe’ and ‘very poor’ categories. On the same day in 2021 and 2022, the state had seen 5,199 and 2,487 active fires, respectively.

Delhi transport minister Kailash claimed that polluting vehicles were entering the city freely despite restrictions under GRAP stage IV being in place in view of hazardous air quality and directed officials to ensure proper checking at the borders.