NEW DELHI: Pollution levels in the city slightly dipped on Tuesday morning and were recorded in the ‘very poor’ category instead of ‘severe’ after five consecutive days. The national capital’s Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 394, a marginal improvement from 421 recorded at 4 pm on November 7.
Despite the dip, the concentration of PM2.5 exceeded the government-prescribed limit of 60 mg per cubic metre by seven to eight times in the national capital. It was 30 to 40 times the healthy limit of 15 mg per cubic metre set by the World Health Organization.
The city government on Monday announced the return of its flagship odd-even scheme after four years, anticipating further deterioration of air quality. The government also decided to suspend physical classes in all schools, except for students in grades X and XII until November 10.
Stringent restrictions mandated under the final stage of the Graded Response Action Plan, have also been implemented The restrictions under stage IV, including ban on all kinds of construction work and the entry of trucks into the city, took effect on Sunday after air quality in the capital dropped to “severe plus”.