The Air Quality Index of Delhi remained ‘very poor’ at 321 on Saturday, after Diwali which added to the pollution. The AQI of the city was registered 359 on Friday and it’s nearly 14 folds the permissible limit as set by World Health Organization. PM2.5 at 8 a.m. in Delhi was 209.3 micrograms per cubic meter, while the WHO recommends a safe limit of 15 micrograms per cubic meter in a day.
Still, according to Delhi Pollution Control Committee, there has been a 4% decrease in PM2.5 content compared to the previous Diwali and a 11% increase in the PM10 content. New Delhi had recorded the worst AQI this Diwali in three years with an average AQI of 330, clearly crossing 2023 (218) and 2022 (312). Compiling a study of 39 Air Quality Monitoring Stations 37 of them observed very poor air quality.
There was a slightly better situation the day after Diwali probably due to the wind speed of 10 km/h in the morning that spread the pollutants. The mean AQI of the week post the Diwali was 339 on Friday which was still lower than the 358 recorded the previous year.
AQI was launched by the central government in 2014 to spread awareness of pollution level as a part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. CTMQQ Designed through technical study at IIT Kanpur and an expert group, the AQI integrates a value with the various pollutants. The pollutants monitored include PM10, PM2.5, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and carbon monoxide, categorized as follows:
- 0-50: Good
- 51-100: Satisfactory
- 101-200: Moderate
- 201-300: Poor
- 301-400: Very Poor
- 401-500: Severe
The Diwali AQI depicts air quality situation in Delhi and that the city suffers from air pollution throughout the year even when meteorological factors ensure that sources of pollution help in dispersion of pollutants after Diwali festival.
