Delhi’s people are suffering from hazardous smog. Due to this harmful smog people suffer from eyes burning as well as a sore throat drastically. What makes Delhi worse? According to an analysis by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, people in Delhi breathe the worst air between November 1 and November 15 every year.
Delhi has recorded severe air quality on six of the last eight days after Diwali. Air quality levels in Delhi fell to close emergency levels. The pollution controlling authorities have asked people in the national capital to limit outdoor activities and told government and private offices to cut vehicle use by at least 30 percent. The air quality index (AQI) in Delhi was 471.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) 4 pm bulletin on Friday, it is the worst this season so far. It was 411 on Thursday. A record number of farm fires are among the major reasons for pushing up Delhi’s pollution on Friday.
“This spike in pollution is an amalgamation of many things. Delhi already saw peak pollution levels after Diwali and the high stubble count in Punjab and Haryana. Because of slow winds, the pollution load is not being eased, and more pollution is being added. All this is being recirculated in the air,” said VK Soni, head of IMD’s environment and research department.
The CPCB said the 24-hour normal concentration of lung-damaging fine particles known as PM2.5 in Delhi-NCR crossed the 300 mark around midnight and stood at 381 micrograms per cubic meter at 4 pm on Friday.
According to the study, the air quality is deemed to be in the ’emergency’ category if the PM 2.5 and PM10 levels continue to be above 300 micrograms per cubic meter and 500 micrograms per cubic meter respectively 48 hours or more. The emergency-level curbs include measures like a ban on construction work and entry of heavy vehicles, and odd-even car use limits.
A layer of eye-stinging smog lingering over Delhi-NCR thickened on Friday, giving an orange tint to the sun and lowering visibility to 200 meters at several places in the region.