Delhi chokes under dense smog as air quality remains 'severe' for third day

Delhi woke up to a blanket of dense smog on Thursday (November 13) as the air quality remained in the ‘severe’ category for the third straight day, with stubble burning in neighbouring states continuing to be the main contributor to the capital’s toxic air.

Also Read: Delhi's air quality 'severe' for 2nd day in a row; minimum temperature dips to 10.4 degrees

Visuals showed the city’s skyline engulfed in a thick layer of haze, with buildings and roads barely visible from afar.

Delhi's AQI

The average Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 405 around 8 am, marginally lower than 418 recorded at 4 pm on Wednesday (November 12), according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) daily national bulletin.

CPCB figures showed Bawana reporting the highest AQI at 460 at 8 am, while NSIT Dwarka registered the lowest at 216.

Several major monitoring stations recorded alarming AQI levels at 8 am — Anand Vihar (431), Bawana (460), Chandni Chowk (455), Ashok Vihar (348), North Campus DU (414), Dwarka Sector 8 (400), ITO (438), Mundka (438), Narela (432) and Rohini (447).

Several areas which are surrounded by comparatively greener pockets also reported ‘very poor’ air quality, including IGI Airport (381), Lodhi Road (309), Sirifort (349), Pusa Road (396) and Sri Aurobindo Marg (394).

Also Read: Centre invokes stage III GRAP as Delhi-NCR’s AQI hits ‘severe’

A ‘severe’ AQI poses significant health hazards even for healthy individuals and can have particularly serious effects on those with existing respiratory or cardiac conditions.

'Poor' air quality in Noida

In Noida, the data from several stations showed that the air quality remained in the ‘very poor’ category as well, including Sector 1 (384), Sector 62 (364) and Sector 116 (392).

Delhi’s air quality first slipped into the ‘severe’ category on Tuesday (November 11) evening, marking the worst pollution levels of the season, with the overall AQI touching 428, the highest pollution level recorded this year.

Authorities subsequently activated Stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR).

Data from the Decision Support System (DSS) indicated a rise in stubble burning, with its contribution on Wednesday exceeding that of vehicular emissions in Delhi.

Farm fires accounted for 22.4 per cent of Delhi’s PM 2.5 levels, compared to 15.5 per cent from the city’s transport sector. Owing to westerly winds, the share of farm fires is expected to be just over 10 per cent on Thursday.

Deteriorating pollution levels

Officials noted that after remaining in the ‘very poor’ category for several days, air quality deteriorated sharply early Tuesday due to stagnant atmospheric conditions, calm winds and rising local emissions.

Also Read: Delhi clean air protest: Several detained as anger mounts over toxic air

Since Diwali, the capital’s air quality has consistently fluctuated between the ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ categories, occasionally dipping into ‘severe’ levels.

Meanwhile, Delhi has also witnessed a continued fall in temperatures over the past week, with the weather department forecasting shallow fog on Thursday morning.

On Thursday, the minimum temperature settled at around 10°C, while the maximum is expected to hover near 27°C, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The weather office has also predicted hazy conditions during the night across the city.