Delhi air quality remains 'very poor' as city wakes up to haze; light rain brings brief respite from pollution

New Delhi: Over the past few years, Delhi winters have become synonymous with deadly smog and to the dismay of residents, this year is no different. The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi remained in the ‘very poor’ category at 326 on Sunday, according to the data compiled by the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR). An AQI between 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 is satisfactory, 101-200 moderate, 201-300 poor, 301-400 very poor and 401-500 is marked as severe/hazardous. At Dhirpur, the AQI was 365 at 9.30 am, while in the Mathura Road area, it dipped to ‘very poor’ at 361. Furthermore, the AQI near the airport at Pitampura (Terminal 3) and University of Delhi stood at 345, 277 and 242, respectively. [caption id=“attachment_5499271” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of pollution in Delhi. AP[/caption] The India Meteorological Department has predicted that the weather in Delhi will mostly be sunny, with highs and lows reaching 28 degree Celsius and 16 degree Celsius, with haze and mist in the air. Residents have been advised to restrict outdoor activities, especially those who have breathing issues. While light showers brought brief respite, the situation still remains bleak in the national capital. Apart from vehicular and industrial pollution, practices like residue crop burning and use of biomass, such as cow dung, wood and coal, also aid air pollution. With a large population relying on these practices, efforts to curb the menace of pollution in Delhi need stringent measures. On the contrary, India’a neighbour China is making progress in this regard and has seen significant improvement. In 2013, the Chinese government identified the major pollution regions such as Hebei, Tianjin and Beijing, set up specific pollution reduction targets and rolled out 10 measures for the proper implementations of the regional action plans. Moreover, the Government of China also fixed the quota of a total number of vehicles in its state to 6 million in 2017. In the past couple of years, as much as 4,022 hectares of land has been transformed into green spaces. It also has a target of reducing coal consumption by 80 percent by 2020.