Delhi Air Pollution News: Several northern regions in the country including the Delhi NCR woke up to a dense layer of fog on Wednesday, impacting visibility in and around the national capital and leaving disrupting railway and flight operations. As many as seven flights scheduled to take off from the national capital were impacted due to low visibility recorded in and around the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport. This marks the season's first dense fog around the national capital. Typically, this time of the year is characterised by dense smog blanketing the NCR owing to a number of factors including stubble burning in the adjoining areas.    

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A number of flights were diverted or delayed on Wednesday morning due to the low visibility conditions in the national capital. The quality of air, gauged by the Air Quality Index (AQI), remained in the "very poor" category for about a fortnight while "severe" air quality was recorded in Anand Vihar and Aya Nagar, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.

'Severe' Air Quality Index levels recorded in several parts of NCR

'Very poor' to 'severe' AQI levels were recorded in most stations located in and around the national capital region, including the neighborhoods of Anand Vihar (443), Ashok Vihar (411), North Campus (415), IGI Airport (402) and Rohini (403), showed data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. 

Poor air quality in Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh

While the quality of air was recorded to be in the "poor" category in several regions spanning Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh remained in the "very poor" quality with AQI readings to the tune of 375.

Here are some readings from a few regions across the NCR, Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh, as of 2 pm, Wednesday: 

Station AQI Category
Anand Vihar, Delhi 443 Severe
North Campus, DU, Delhi 415 Severe
Ashok Vihar, Delhi 411 Severe
Siri Fort, Delhi 411 Severe
Rohini, Delhi 403 Severe
IGI Airport, Delhi 402 Severe
Mundka, Delhi 401 Severe
IHBAS, Dilshad Garden, Delhi 386 Very Poor
Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, Delhi 382 Very Poor
Sector 62, Noida, UP 382 Very Poor
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi 371 Very Poor
Jai Bheem Nagar, Meerut, UP 342 Very Poor
Sardar Patel Inter College, Baghpat, UP 335 Very Poor
Sector 116, Noida, UP 329 Very Poor
Murthal, Sonipat, Haryana 325 Very Poor
Lodhi Road, Delhi 313 Very Poor
Sector 51, Gurugram, Haryana 304 Very Poor
Anand Vihar, Hapur, UP 304 Very Poor
Kalindi Kunj, Khurja, UP 295 Poor
Sanjay Nagar, Ghaziabad, UP 292 Poor
Sector 1, Noida, UP 290 Poor
Yamunapuram, Bulandshahr, UP 280 Poor
Civil Lines, Jalandhar, Punjab 219 Poor
Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab 219 Poor
Sector 30, Faridabad, Haryana 197 Moderate
Indra Nagar, Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan 195 Moderate
General Hospital, Mandikhera, Haryana 184 Moderate
Shastri Nagar, Narnaul, Haryana 122 Moderate
Shyam Nagar, Palwal, Haryana 115 Moderate
(Source: airquality.cpcb.gov.in)

What do 'good', 'satisfactory', 'moderately polluted', 'poor', 'very poor' and 'severe' AQI categories indicate? 

Here's a breakup of what the AQI readings tell about quality of air:
  • 0-50 - Good
  • 51-100 - Satisfactory
  • 101-200 - Moderate
  • 201-300 - Poor
  • 301-400 - Very Poor
  • 401-500 - Severe

The Air Quality Index captures changes in the quality of air in a particular region over a given period factoring in several factors including the concentration of pollutants and their likely impacts on health.