Delhi air quality remains very poor; Rai says will take measures if needed

The Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital was at 398 --'very poor'-- at 8 am, according to SAFAR

Delhi air remained toxic on Saturday morning, a day after it had slipped to severe category, with AQI dropping at 425 as all the emergency measures have been withdrawn in the national capital. 

The Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital was at 398 --'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'.

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Friday said the city government will not compromise on pollution and will take necessary action if the air quality in the capital keeps deteriorating. Rai added that the authorities withdrew the emergency measures in view of a continuous improvement in the air pollution situation.

On Monday, the CAQM lifted restrictions on construction and demolition activities in the Delhi-NCR and entry of trucks into the national capital in view of an improvement in the air quality and "favourable" meteorological forecast.

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.

Delhi this morning was the world's topmost polluted city with an AQI of 436, said IQAir, a website that tracks air quality worldwide. Mumbai was the only other Indian city on the list at the ninth spot with an AQI of 169 respectively.

Preliminary data from a month-long experiment has shown that indoor air pollution levels were nearly half of the outdoor levels in Delhi-NCR during November-December so far.

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.