A sudden dip in Delhi’s air quality has pushed the Delhi government to shut primary schools for two days. Neighbouring Gurugram has also taken measures to counter pollution.
Delhi-NCR’s air quality deteriorates further today, November 3, breaching ‘400’ danger mark on a scale of 500 with AQI reaching alarming levels in several places.
To name a few Anand Vihar station, Punjabi Bagh station, Mundka station recorded AQI levels in ‘severe’ category that is above 400 AQI mark, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data. This situation prompted a ban on non-essential construction work and the closure of primary schools in the capital last evening. In view of the situation restrictions have been imposed on diesel and petrol vehicles operating in and around Delhi .
Government agencies have further warned that pollution levels could worsen in Delhi-NCR over the next 15-20 days due to a surge in farm fires along with expected drop in temperature and air speed. Smoky haze blanketed the skyline of national capital on Thursday and it is expected that the situation will continue for the next few days.
The concentration of PM2.5 exceeded the safe limit of 60 micrograms per cubic metre by a 7 to 8 times across various locations which can trigger respiratory and health problems.
Smoke from stubble burning accounted for 25% of the PM2.5 pollution in Delhi on November 2 and may reach as high as 35% today, according to Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune.
