NEW DELHI: Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai has called a meeting of the officials of his department and the city’s pollution control board on Thursday, as the national capital recorded close to ‘severe’ level air quality index (AQI). The meeting is slated to take place at 1 pm on Thursday, an official said on Wednesday.“The meeting of the environment department and Delhi Pollution Control Committee, to be chaired by Delhi Minister Gopal Rai, has been convened to discuss the situation as the AQI level has deteriorated,” he said.
The air quality index (AQI) in the national capital was close to the ‘severe’ level on an overcast Wednesday morning while the minimum temperature settled at 25.4 degrees Celsius, a notch below the season’s average. Central Pollution Control Board data showed Delhi’s AQI at 395 (‘very poor’) at 9 am, just five notches short of touching the ‘severe’ level. 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 PM10 pollution in Delhi soared to hazardous levels on Tuesday as strong winds swept the city, raising dust and leaving a thick blanket of haze over it. The Delhi Pollution Control Committee data showed PM10 levels soaring to 3,826 micrograms per cubic metre at Jahangirpuri and 2,565 micrograms per cubic metre at Sri Aurobindo Marg.
Meteorologists have attributed the dusty conditions to a combination of intense heat in northwest India over the past five days, parched soil due to the absence of rainfall and strong winds that have persisted since midnight.
According to doctors, dust particles can penetrate deep into the respiratory system when inhaled. They
can irritate the lungs, trigger respiratory problems, and exacerbate existing conditions such as asthma, bronchitis,and allergies.