Delhi air remains 'very poor' as physical classes in schools resume

The Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital was 303 --'very poor'-- at 8 am, according to SAFAR

Delhi is breathing polluted air on Saturday as the air quality panel ordered the resumption of physical classes in the national capital while it continued with the ban on construction and demolition activities.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital was at 303 --'very poor'-- at 8 am, according to the Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality forecast agency SAFAR. Readings below 50 are considered safe, while anything above 300 is considered hazardous or 'severe'.

The Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) allowed the resumption of physical classes in schools in Delhi for classes 6 onwards from Saturday.

However, the CAQM said there is a need to exercise control on various sectors that significantly contribute to air pollution and continued its ban on construction and demolition (C&D) activities.

Delhi this morning was the world's third most polluted city with an AQI of 198, said iQair, a website that tracks air quality worldwide. Kolkata and Mumbai, the other Indian cities on the list, were at the seventh and ninth spot with an AQI of 163, 162.

Delhi's air quality in November was the worst in seven years, data showed. The air 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.