Delhi's air improves, but still far from safe; Mumbai's remains 'poor'

Delhi's air quality has improved marginally to 'very poor' with an air quality index of 399. For the last four days, air pollution in Delhi was at 'severe' level.

After four days of 'severe' pollution, Delhi woke up to marginally better air quality on Wednesday.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on Wednesday upgraded Delhi's air quality to 'very poor' from 'severe' with an index value (AQI) of 399. SAFAR — a body under the Ministry of Earth Sciences — showed a slightly better AQI at 385.

The improvement in air quality comes after authorities imposed a three-day ban on industrial and construction activities across Delhi-NCR on Monday.

SAFAR showed Mumbai's air quality at 'poor' with an AQI of 225.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Tuesday that the government would implement the odd-even scheme "whenever required". He also called upon the Centre to take initiatives in controlling air pollution in Delhi.

"I have met the Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan several times in the last one year. The air does not have a boundary. The Centre should take initiative and invite all neighbouring states for consultation for checking air pollution," he said.

Meanwhile, the cold wave conditions have gripped the national capital, leading to a drop in mercury. For Wednesday, weather websites have forecast a minimum temperature of 5 degrees Celcius.

Owing to extreme pollution levels, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) reported a surge in the number of patients visiting the hospital with cardiac and respiratory problems. 

"Whenever Delhi's air quality deteriorates, we see a rise in the number of patients visiting OPDs or cases of emergency admission with respiratory or cardiac related problems. At AIIMS, we have observed that there is about 15 to 20 per cent rise in such cases," Dr Randeep Guleria, Director, AIIMS, said.

Area-wise air pollution figures of Delhi: 

 

Place	PM2.5	PM10
R K Puram	304	388
Dwarka	188	326
Anand Vihar	261	344
Gurgaon	122	N/A
Noida	176	375

With agency inputs