Thick blanket of haze in Delhi, air quality slips into 'very poor' category; AQI docked at 326

Reuters photo

NEW DELHI: Various parts of the national capital witnessed a thick blanket of haze as air quality in the region continued to deteriorate further with an Air Quality Index (AQI) hovering at 326 on Tuesday (December 1), slipping into the 'very poor' category, according to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).

Parts of the city reported AQIs between 'very poor' and 'severe' range. On Tuesday morning, The air quality was recorded 336 at Delhi University and 324 at Indira Gandhi International Airport. In Noida, the AQI was recorded at 345 while in Gurugram, it was 280.

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

Earlier, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai urged the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to make the bio-decomposer technology mandatory for all states, stating pollution levels in the national capital shoot up with an increase in stubble burning.

The Delhi government, along with PUSA, developed a bio-composer which Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had earlier claimed could decompose 70 to 95 per cent of crop residue. The government claimed that stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have significantly contributed to the hazardous levels of air pollution in the national capital.

During a COVID-19 review meeting, Kejriwal sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention to get rid of pollution due to stubble burning, while citing pollution as an important factor behind the surge of coronavirus cases in the national capital.

However, he had said coronavirus cases in the national capital have been steadily decreasing after November 10.