The air quality in the national Capital dipped to 'severe' shooting past 400 on the second day of the New Year. The air quality index (AQI) stood at 408 units against 400 on Monday. The permissible standard of healthy AQI is 60 units while the current figure is almost six times the limit.

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

However, officials at the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) said the situation is expected to improve in the coming days with the cold wave coming in from northern India and wind speed picking up.

"There was more moisture in the air while the wind speed had dropped drastically. But starting Wednesday, cold wave from the northern region is going to increase as well as the wind speed is to pick up, which is expected to disburse pollutants hung in the air. The air quality will come down from 'severe' category with a change in weather conditions this week," said Dipankar Saha, chief air laboratory, CPCB.

According to CPCB officials, bursting of firecrackers in many parts of the city on New Year's Eve added to the dipping of air quality.

PM 2.5 --- most prominent pollutant in Delhi-NCR --- had reached past 400 at many pollution monitoring stations in the city. NCR towns, including Noida and Ghaziabad, reeled under'severe'levels of pollution nearing the'emergency mark'(500 units) at --- 411, 456, respectively.

The AQI at Faridabad was also recorded at 399 units in'very poor'category.

The Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) --- a Supreme Court mandated body --- said if the pollution levels enter'severe plus (500+)' category in the next 48 hours, it will issue emergency directions.

'Very poor' AQI comes with the warning that people may develop respiratory illness on prolonged exposure to air affects healthy people and seriously impacts those with existing respiratory or cardiovascular diseases.

Last month, the Delhi government had prepared a 12-point draft to combat air pollution which proposed setting up an anti-pollution helpline in the NCR districts to register complaints of specific violations.

NUMBER SPEAK

Delhi408 (severe)

Ghaziabad456 (severe)

Noida411 (severe)

Faridabad399 (very poor)