Delhi, Noida air quality remains ‘very poor’; AQI in national capital at 322

New Delhi [India]: The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi and Noida continues to remain in the ‘very poor’ category, sounding the alarm for residents in the National Capital Region (NCR).

The air quality index in Delhi stands at 322, while it stands at 324 in Noida, as per SAFAR-India’s latest report on Monday.

Despite a 15-point winter action plan to curb rising pollution, the battle against deteriorating air quality continues.

While initiatives like ‘Red Light on, Gaadi off’ are in motion as vehicular and biomass burning emissions contribute to rising PM2.5 levels, the haze is likely to linger, with ‘very poor’ air quality forecast for the region from October 29 to 31, 2023.

The overall air quality in the national capital on Sunday was recorded in the ‘Very Poor’ category, as per the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR)-India.

The AQI in Delhi was recorded at 322 on Sunday evening, while Noida recorded an AQI of 324 and Gurugram 314, both in the’very poor’ category.

Earlier on Friday, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said that a 15-point winter action plan is being implemented one by one to curb pollution.

“Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had earlier announced a 15-point winter action plan to curb the pollution caused by vehicles, biomass burning, dust, etc. Now this winter action plan is being implemented on the ground one by one to reduce pollution in the national capital,” Rai told media.

The Delhi Minister said that since one of the major causes of pollution is vehicles, they have started the ‘Red Light on, Gaadi off’ campaign on Thursday.”Now the data says that in AQI the level of particulate matter (PM) 10 is decreasing and that of PM2.5 is increasing. This means that pollution caused by vehicles and biomass burning is increasing. For this, the ‘Red Light on, Gaadi off’ campaign has been started,” the Delhi Minister said.

As per the Air Quality and Weather Bulletin for Delhi, the air quality is likely to be in the ‘very poor’ category from October 29 to 31, 2023.