Delhi man's ‘AQI 400 to 40' journey goes viral amid rising pollution
The user, Naman Jain, is among many who have left Delhi to escape the health-threatening conditions. He posted a picture of an aircraft parked at an airport gate with the caption, ‘Bye Delhi.’
Pollution levels in the national capital show no sign of declining, prompting residents to look for alternatives to escape its toxic air and relocate to other cities. A social media user’s transition journey from an AQI of 400 – which has persisted in Delhi for a long stretch – to an ‘AQI of 40’ is now making waves on the Internet.
The user, Naman Jain, is among many who have left Delhi to escape the health-threatening conditions. He posted a picture of an aircraft parked at an airport gate with the caption, ‘Bye Delhi.’
In a separate post, he shared an image of the Singapore skyline accompanied by the text, “Hello Singapore, my lungs are definitely not ready for this 400 -> 40 AQI transition”. His post swiftly gained traction on X, drawing numerous responses from netizens.
He kept sharing updates, posting a follow-up from Sydney and captioning it, “Hello Sydney, this has to be one of the best view so far”. The accompanying image offered a room-side view of the iconic Sydney Opera House.
Delhi’s AQI
Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) continues to remain in the ‘very poor’ category at 359, despite the implementation of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)-III, which bans BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel four-wheelers plying in the capital.
As a thick layer of smog blankets the city, there appears to be no respite in the near future. The weather forecast for the next six days predicts no possibility of rain and suggests that the smog is here to stay.
According to data from the CPCB’s Sameer app, a total of six air quality monitoring stations recorded AQI levels in the ‘severe’ category, with Bawana reporting the worst air quality. NSIT Dwarka, Lodhi Road and Dilshad Garden monitoring stations recorded the best levels, falling in the ‘poor’ range.
The remaining stations showed readings between 301 and 400, placing them in the ‘very poor’ category as per CPCB standards. Since pollution levels entered the ‘severe’ range last week, schools in Delhi-NCR have shifted to hybrid mode for primary classes.