Delhi woke up to choking air as thick fog and haze engulfed the city, with AQI levels crossing 400 (severe category) at 27 monitoring stations and several others slipping into the ‘severe plus’ range, exposing residents to extremely hazardous pollution.
At 9 am on Tuesday, the city recorded an AQI of 415, slipping from the ‘very poor’ category a day earlier, as pollution levels continued their upward climb, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
Out of 40 monitoring stations, 27 recorded severe air quality with AQI readings above 400, a level known to have serious health impacts.
Five stations were in the ‘severe plus’ category with AQI readings above 450, with Anand Vihar recording an AQI of 470, Nehru Nagar (463), Okhla (459), Mundka (459) and Sirifort (450), as per data from the CPCB’s SAMEER app.
According to the CPCB standards, an AQI from 0-50 is considered ‘good’, 51-100 ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 201-300 ‘poor’, 301-400 ‘very poor’, and 401-500 ‘severe’.
