Delhi air quality 'very poor' after Diwali, improves from previous years

Pollution 'very unhealthy' and 'unhealthy' in the national capital and cities around it

Air quality in Delhi and cities around was 'very poor' on Tuesday afternoon, a day after Diwali celebrations, as data showed that the pollution had improved from the past few years but was still considered 'very unhealthy'.

Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was 317 at 12:30 pm, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The neighbouring cities of Ghaziabad (270), Noida (305), Gurugram (307) and Faridabad (305) reported 'poor' to 'very poor' air quality—pollution levels that are ‘unhealthy’ and 'very unhealthy'.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.

According to the CPCB, Delhi's AQI on Diwali on Monday was the best in four years and the second best in seven years for a festival date. The air quality plunged at night when firecrackers were set off in several parts of the national capital despite a ban on their use.

Delhi’s AQI reached 365 at midnight for a 'very poor' tag, according to data from the state-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).

Delhi recorded an AQI of 382 on Diwali last year, some distance away from ‘severe’. AQI was 414 in 2020, 337 in 2019, 281 in 2018, 319 in 2017, and 431 in 2016, as per CPCB.

The concentration of poisonous PM2.5 particulate matter was 15 times than safe limits in the 24-hour standard starting Monday, according to data from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC). PM2.5 is small enough to travel deep into the lungs, enter the bloodstream and can cause severe respiratory diseases, including lung cancer.

As many as 201 calls about fires were received in Delhi during Diwali, Atul Garg, director of Delhi Fire Service, told the media. “Post-midnight till 6am today (Tuesday), we received 63 more fire calls. 20 per lesser calls received comparatively due to the ban on firecrackers... it was an overall peaceful Diwali,” Garg said.

On Tuesday morning, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) started its pollution control measures by sprinkling water in several places in the national capital.

Stubble burning—one source of pollution in northern India—is increasing in farms. According to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute’s real-time monitoring of paddy residue burning events, 7,842 fires were recorded in six paddy-growing states—Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi—between September 15 and October 25, as against 8,762 case recorded during the same period last year.

On Monday, Punjab reported the season's most stubble burning cases (1,019) in a single day.