Delhi's air quality turns 'Very Poor' for first time this season

Ahead of Diwali, the air quality in the national capital has taken a turn for the worse.

People in Delhi and its nearby areas Gurugram, Noida, Faridabad and Ghaziabad woke up on Wednesday to a thick blanket of smog covering the region as the AQI plunged to the "very poor" category.

It is believed that the crop residue burning in the nearby states of Punjab and Haryana are contributing to polluting the air.

At around 8:30 am, the overall AQI in Delhi docked up at 309.

An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'.

The AQI in Dhirpur, Delhi University, Chandni Chowk, Pusa was 314, 313, 132 and 287 respectively.

From October 15, stringent measures to combat the menace of air pollution has come into force in the national capital and its nearby regions as part of the Graded Response Action Plan.

This plan which was first implemented in Delhi and NCR in 2017 include increasing bus and metro services, hiking parking fees and stopping the use of diesel generator when the air quality turns poor.

Other major cities such as Kolkata, Mumbai, and Chennai, as compared to Delhi, have had much better air quality.