Delhi’s air quality nears ’severe’ zone; GRAP stage three likely to kick in

Air quality in Delhi in ‘severe’ category with AQI of 457 in the Anand Vihar area on Saturday. The air quality was recorded ‘severe’ in Noida, as per National Air Quality Index. 

According to data from the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), Delhi's overall air quality was 381 in 'very poor' category in the afternoon.

An official of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) said authorities said that they will review the situation in the evening and may take a call on implementing anti-air pollution measures under stage three of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) which include a ban on construction, amongst others.

Anand Vihar (AQI 454) was the most polluted place in the capital. Wazirpur (439), Narela (423), Ashok Vihar (428), Vivek Vihar (427) and Jahangirpuri (438) were among the monitoring stations that recorded ‘severe’ air quality.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said calm winds prevailed at night. Moderate wind speed (up to 8 kmph) is predicted during the day, it added.

Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 15.6 degrees Celsius on Saturday. The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 31 degrees Celsius.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe".

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the concentration of lung-damaging fine particles known as PM2.5 was above 400 micrograms per cubic metre at 11 am, around seven times the safe limit of 60 micrograms per cubic metre, in many areas.