Parts of north India wake up to thick smog as air pollution concerns mount

Parts of northern India woke up to a thick layer of smog on Saturday as the air quality dipped to emergency levels.

The national capital plunged into the 'severe category' after reporting an air quality index (AQI) of 499, System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) informed today.

As far as Uttar Pradesh is concerned, Noida reported an AQI of 772. Lucknow reported an AQI of 218. Air quality also deteriorated in Moradabad as thick smog engulfed the skies and the overall air quality moved to the 'severe category'. Air quality remained in the 'severe category' in Ghaziabad.

Gurugram in Haryana reported an AQI of 529.

According to the government agencies, AQI between 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 is satisfactory, 101-200 moderate, 201-300 poor, 301-400 very poor and 401-500 are marked as severe/hazardous.

SAFAR, in its daily bulletin for Delhi, informed, "The AQI today is in a severe category and is likely to be the same tomorrow due to increase in stubble related fire counts and increase in transport level (925 mb) wind speed during the night. The effective fire count increased to 4056 today. Today's share of crop residue burning is about 35 per cent in PM2.5."

"A drop in the minimum temperature is likely for the next two days resulting in air quality to be in severe to the upper end of the very poor category. However, an increase in local surface wind speed helps disperse pollutants," read the bulletin.

To curb pollution, the second phase of the anti-dust campaign commenced on November 12 and will go on till December 12, said Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Friday.

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on Monday suggested measures to tackle air pollution in Delhi-NCR through the implementation of a Graded Response Action Plan for the city.

As per the official notification of the pollution control board, a Sub-committee convened a meeting on Monday and reviewed air quality status as well as meteorological and air pollution forecasts for Delhi-NCR.