Delhi continued to reel under a dense blanket of smog for the third straight day on Thursday, with the city’s air quality remaining in the ‘severe’ category. According to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the average Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 405 at 10 am, only slightly better than 418 at 4 pm on Wednesday.
As per CPCB’s Sameer app, 25 out of 39 active air monitoring stations in Delhi reported ‘severe’ air quality levels. The most affected areas included Bawana (460), Wazirpur (454), and Rohini (447).
On Tuesday, the city’s AQI had climbed to 428, its worst level since December 19 last year, when it reached 451. Meteorologists attributed the worsening air to slow winds and dropping temperatures, which have caused a weather inversion, trapping pollutants close to the surface and creating the thick smog visible across Delhi.
Winds have remained weak, with top speeds reaching only 10 km/hr on Wednesday, said Mahesh Palawat, Vice President of Skymet Weather.
“In the early hours, winds have mostly been calm. The wind direction was northwesterly till Wednesday, but it then fluctuated to westerly and southwesterly,” Palawat said.
He added that a slight improvement in air quality could be expected from Thursday onwards.
Stage-3 Of GRAP In Force
The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has kept Stage-3 restrictions of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in place across the National Capital Region (NCR) since Tuesday.
Under these curbs, private and non-essential construction activities remain suspended, and BS-3 petrol and BS-4 diesel four-wheelers are banned in Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, and Gautam Buddh Nagar.
Furthermore, the Delhi government has directed all primary schools up to Class 5 to operate in ‘hybrid mode’ until further notice, according to an order issued by the Department of Education.
Officials added that Stage-3 measures could be rolled back once the AQI drops below 400, the threshold that marks the transition from ‘severe’ to ‘very poor’ air quality.
