NEW DELHI: The national capital’s worsening Air Quality Index (AQI) clocked the season’s worst on Wednesday with a reading of 372 on Wednesday morning. The day’s average turned out to be 364, as per the data released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), which also predicted no respite for a week at least.
Taking into account the poor air quality, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said that the next 15-20 days would be critical. He said the government would ban construction work in areas recording an AQI above the 400-mark for the next five days.
The construction work will be halted within a 1-km radius of such areas. According to the CPCB, the air quality is likely to remain in the ‘very poor’ category for the next six days. The AQI in many areas, including hotspots like Anand Vihar, Bawana and Rohini, entered ‘severe’ category.
A drastic deterioration in the air quality was noted by the CPCB at New Moti Bagh with the highest AQI reading of 435, followed by Anand Vihar (422), Sonia Vihar (412), Mundka (407), Rohini (403), and Nehru Nagar (402).
While atmospheric conditions and stubble burning in neighboring states are driving pollution in Delhi, the emissions within the city are also contributing to the deterioration of the air quality. NCR towns are major sources of pollution as well.
According to the Decision Support System, the forecasting body under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, biomass burning contributed to 13% of the PM 2.5 pollution on Wednesday, while vehicular emissions are made up to 11.3% of the share in local pollution sources.