Delhi pollution levels soar as temperatures plummet

Air pollution on Monday was at alarming levels in parts of Delhi.

New Delhi: Putting the health of residents at risk, air quality in the national capital continues to get worse even as the temperature sees a dip in recent days.

As per a report from The Hindu, air pollution on Monday was at alarming levels in parts of the city.

According to the National Air Quality Index, which is measured at 10 stations across Delhi, Anand Vihar saw ‘severe’ pollution with an AQI of 443 as of 10 p.m.

The air quality index (AQI) is an index for reporting daily air quality. It tells you how clean or polluted your air is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for you.

The index takes into account the amount of particulate matter (both PM2.5 and PM10), sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and ozone.

Anything more than 100 is considered dangerous for humans. With a warning of severe and an AQI of 443 “affects healthy people and seriously impacts those with existing diseases”, according to the Index.

The monitoring station at Punjabi Bagh also saw a ‘severe’ warning with an AQI of 415 recorded at 10 p.m.

Even the lowest AQIs recorded at the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (106) and Civil Lines (108) stations at 10 p.m. are believed to give breathing troubles to people with lung and heart diseases, the report added.

Even as Delhiites continue to grapple with high levels of pollution, authorities struggle to implement green tax on commercial vehicles.

Delhi has remained shrouded in a blanket of smog since the night of October 30 due to uncontrolled burning of paddy stubbles by farmers in Punjab.

Earlier, a new study has warned that in another 10 years, Delhi will record the highest number of premature deaths among all mega cities in the world due to air pollution.