NEW DELHI: The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Sunday asked agencies to strictly implement measures under Stage I of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) as the air quality in Delhi and neighbouring areas slipped to poor levels. GRAP is a set of anti-air pollution measures followed in the capital.
Delhi’s 24-hour air quality index (AQI) stood at 232 at 4 pm, worsening from 186 at 4 pm on Saturday. It was 286 in Ghaziabad, 229 in Faridabad, 258 in Greater Noida, 231 in Gurugram and 258 in Noida. 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’.
Delhi had recorded its first poor air day in over three months on October 5. A prolonged spell of rain thereafter suppressed farm fires and kept the air clean. On October 10, Delhi breathed the cleanest air (AQI 41) since August 31, 2020.