New Delhi, 23 Dec (UNI): Delhi residents woke up to a thick blanket of smog on Tuesday as air quality in the national capital deteriorated to hazardous levels.
At 7:05 am, Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) breached the ‘severe’ threshold, spiking to 414, according to data from the Sameer app.
Of the 40 active air quality monitoring stations across the city, 29 recorded ‘severe’ or ‘severe plus’ air. Anand Vihar emerged as the worst-affected hotspot, with AQI levels touching 466 on Tuesday morning. This marked a sharp rise compared to the previous five days, during which the station consistently reported ‘severe’ air, 416 on Monday, 418 on Sunday, 440 on Saturday, 430 on Friday, and 438 on Thursday. The highest AQI recorded at the station in recent days was 492 on December 14.
Other pollution hotspots breaching the 450 mark included Mundka (451), Nehru Nagar (453), and Okhla Phase-2 (452), while several stations hovered close to the ‘severe plus’ category.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) classifies air quality as ‘moderate’ when the AQI ranges between 101 and 200, ‘poor’ between 201 and 300, and ‘very poor’ between 301 and 400. AQI levels above 400 fall under the ‘severe’ category. However, for the implementation of emergency measures under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), AQI readings of 450 and above are categorised as ‘severe plus’. Exposure to AQI levels exceeding 400 can affect even healthy individuals and severely impact those with pre-existing respiratory or cardiovascular conditions.
Calm winds, lower temperatures, and high humidity prevented the dispersion of locally generated pollutants, worsening air quality and sharply reducing visibility across the city.
At Safdarjung and Palam, very dense fog was reported at 7:30 am on Tuesday due to calm wind conditions, with visibility dropping to 50 metres from 100 metres recorded at 5:30 am.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert for fog across all 11 districts of Delhi for the next two to three hours, according to a district-wise forecast released at 5:50 am.
