New Delhi, 18 December: Pollution has once again reached the severe category in the national capital Delhi-NCR. Along with this, fog has made the situation more serious. This morning the average air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 440.
At some places, the AQI has crossed 450. Due to this, people have started feeling difficulty in breathing and burning sensation in the eyes. There are also complaints of sore throat. On the other hand, the Meteorological Department has issued a yellow alert of fog in Delhi-NCR for the next three days.
On Monday, the Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 379. On Tuesday, it increased to 433. In view of the worsening pollution situation, CAQM had imposed restrictions of Grape-3 on Monday. After that, restrictions of Grape-4 were also imposed late at night. Under this, surveillance on vehicles entering Delhi border was increased. Apart from this, under Grape 4, classes up to 9th and 11th in Delhi NCR will now run in hybrid mode. That is, schools will run in both online and offline mode. Only the school can take the decision of 10th and 12th class. In Grape 3, hybrid mode was already implemented up to fifth class.
The AQI level in major areas of Delhi was worrying. It was 481 in Anand Vihar, 461 in Ashok Vihar, 417 on Lodhi Road, 453 in New Delhi, 483 in Burari Crossing. 443 AQI was recorded in Alipur, 469 in Jahangirpuri and 473 in Mundka.
Neighbouring areas of the NCR also faced poor air quality, with the AQI level in Haryana’s Faridabad settling at 263, Gurugram at 392, and in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad at 390, Greater Noida at 330 and Noida at 364. Notably, an AQI between 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 satisfactory, 101-200 moderate, 201-300 poor, 301-400 very poor and 401-500 severe.
