3 days after Diwali, Delhi air quality plunges to record low

South Delhi's 24-hour average PM 2.5 levels in 2016 were 38% higher than on Diwali night 2015

It was straight third day that Delhi residents woke up to a "foggy" morning, with many complaining about irritation in eyes and a cough, thanks to the air quality that plunged to the record low on Wednesday.

 According to an IndiaSpend analysis of national data, India’s air quality was among the world’s worst and between 40% and 100% worse in five north Indian cities than at the same time the preceding year.

A pall of smog was hanging over the city since the morning as pollutants hang close to the surface. The reason was a drop in wind speed, coupled with increase in humidity and low temperature, which worsened the situation and took the Air Quality Index (AQI) to the "severe" level, said air monitoring agencies. Anand Vihar recoded AQI at 494 on Wednesday morning.

Notebly, the AQI was improved to "very poor" level on Tuesday after it was recorded at "severe level" on Monday after the Diwali night (October 30).

Adverse climatic conditions, especially low wind speed have blocked dispersal of pollutants from the air from last several days, taking the toxicity level in the region at its worst level since Diwali night, said the air monitoring agencies.