Delhi air 'very poor'; data says November pollution worst in 7 years

The Air Quality Index (AQI) was 362 --'very poor'-- at 8 am, according to the state-run SAFAR

Delhi's air was toxic on Wednesday without any improvement as data stated the pollution in November was the worst in seven years.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) was 362 --'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'.

According to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, Delhi AQI in November was the worst in seven years with the city witnessing severe pollution on 11 days and not a single "good" air quality day, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data.

This was attributed to the shifting of the peak stubble burning period by around a week due to a prolonged monsoon season, experts said.

Gufran Beig, SAFAR's founder project director, said events causing extreme pollution--Diwali and peak stubble burning among them-- got shifted towards November this year due to the delayed withdrawal of the monsoon resulting in poorer air quality. 

Delhi was this morning the planet's third most polluted city with an AQI of 196, said iQair, a website that tracks air pollution worldwide. The other Indian cities on the website’s list of 10 were Kolkata, Mumbai being the sixth, seventh most polluted city worldwide with an AQI of 165, 157, respectively.

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.