Delhi air 'very poor', city bans constructions and demolitions again

Delhi on Friday was the most polluted city on the planet with an AQI of 380, said website that tracks data worldwide.

Delhi’s air was toxic Friday morning as it brought back a ban on constructions and demolitions after the Supreme Court upbraided the state and central governments for the pollution.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) was 380 --'very poor'-- at 8 am, according to the state-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR). Readings below 50 are considered safe, while anything above 300 is considered hazardous or 'severe'.

"We have decided to ban construction and demolition activities again from Thursday. The reimposition of the ban will cause inconvenience to workers. So, we will provide them financial assistance," said Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai on Thursday.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered a reimposition of the ban on construction in Delhi and cities nearby until further orders.

“This is the national capital. Look at the signal we are sending to the world. The response has to be based on a statistical model for Delhi… You don’t have to wait till air quality becomes severe," the court told governments.

Delhi was this morning the most polluted city on the planet with an AQI of 380, said iQair, a website that tracks air pollution worldwide. The only other Indian city on the website’s list of 10 was Kolkata being the fifth polluted city worldwide with an AQI of 174.

The national capital's air quality became worse after Diwali on November 4 as people violated a ban on bursting firecrackers while the pollution compounded due to an increase in stubble burning by farmers in areas adjoining the national capital.

Air pollution costs Indian businesses $95 billion or roughly 3 per cent of its GDP every year, according to U.K.-based non-profit Clean Air Fund and the Confederation of Indian Industry, Bloomberg has reported.