No respite for Delhi, Noida and Gurugram as AQI remains ‘severe’ – How long will residents have to endure toxic air?

With no respite in sight, a blanket of haze continued to engulf Delhi-NCR on Sunday, with several areas in the capital recording an air quality index (AQI) above 400 – categorised as 'severe'. The 24-hour average AQI stood at 386 in the 'very poor' range of 385, only a point less than Saturday's 386, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

Parts of the city continued to breathe toxic air, with several stations reporting 'severe' AQI on Saturday. At 7 am, Anand Vihar recorded 412, Bawana 436, Burari 405, IGI Airport 338, ITO 417, Najafgarh 364, Punjabi Bagh 409, and Wazirpur 435.

In Noida, the AQI at 435 was in the 'severe' category. Similarly, Greater Noida reported an AQI of 452, Ghaziabad 448, and Gurgaon 377. There is no relief expected anytime soon in Delhi-NCR, as the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology has forecast the air quality to remain in the ‘severe’ to ‘very poor’ range in the coming days.

According to the CPCB, an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered 'good', 51-100 'satisfactory', 101-200 'moderate', 201-300 'poor', 301-400 'very poor', and 401-500 'severe'.

Is stubble burning adding to Delhi’s pollution woes?

According to the Decision Support System (DSS) – a tool used by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, for air quality analysis and forecasting – stubble burning accounted for 16.3 per cent of Delhi's pollutants on Saturday. Vehicular emissions contributed 18.3 per cent, the largest share among all pollution sources.

The forecast indicates that stubble burning will make up 14.5 per cent of the capital’s pollution on Sunday. Satellite imagery revealed 104 farm fire incidents in Punjab, 24 in Haryana, and 129 in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the city experienced its coldest night of the season on Saturday, with the minimum temperature dropping to 9.7°C, 3.8 degrees below the seasonal average, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The maximum temperature was recorded at 26.6°C, 1.9 degrees below normal.