Dust storm aftermath: Delhi's air quality worsens

Pollution levels in Delhi have spiked again, pushing the air quality of the national capital and surrounding areas from 'moderate' to 'severe category.

Strong-anti cyclonic winds blowing from Rajasthan are the reason behind the worsening air quality.

According to AQICN, on Wednesday morning, many places in Delhi saw the air quality index (AQI) touching above 500, causing hazy conditions and leading to a dip in visibility.

The AQI of R.K. Puram read 660, while other places like Okhla Phase-II (738), PGDAV College, Sriniwaspuri (686), Punjabi Bagh (714), Mandir Marg (545) and ITO (816) saw the air quality plummet to hazardous levels.

East Delhi's Anand Vihar was the worst affected area with an AQI of 867.

Meanwhile, air quality in the National Capital Region (NCR) also witnessed a rise in pollution levels, but remained in the 'very poor category.'

The AQI in Ghaziabad, Noida, and Gurugram touched 320, 314 and 252 respectively.

However, Faridabad recorded an AQI of 175 in the 'moderate category', the lowest among all in the Delhi-NCR region, as per AQICN.

It is to be noted that a number of dust storms have struck the northern part of India several times in this year's summer season, causing casualties and loss of properties.

As per the AQI level - from 0-50 is considered 'good', 51-100 is 'satisfactory', 101-200 is 'moderate', 201-300 is 'poor', 301-400 is 'very poor', and 401 and above is 'severe' or 'hazardous'.