Delhi’s air quality turns ‘hazardous’ post Diwali; people complain of itchy throat, watery eyes

Bhubaneswar: Delhiites today woke up to a thick blanket of smog that shrouded the national capital post Diwali.

As Air Quality Index (AQI) reached the ‘hazardous’ category in many parts of the city this morning, people complained of watery eyes and itchy throat.

Despite Government’s ban,  people were seen bursting crackers on streets and societies at several places in the city contributing to degradation of the air quality. The concentrations of Pollution Meter (PM) 2.5 stood at 655.07 in Janpath this morning.

As per the Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the air quality in Delhi will not improve till the evening of November 7.

SAFAR said, “The overall air quality of Delhi is plunged into the upper end of very poor category. It will continue to fall now and may enter at the edge of the ‘very poor’ to ‘severe’ category by tonight. If firecrackers are burned even 50 per cent of last year then PM2.5 will enter ‘sever’ category by midnight and shoot up rapidly by today early morning with AQI even crossing 500+.”

The AQI recorded in Lodhi Road by 7:30 am today was 379 while the same was 376 in Pusa, 395 in IIT Delhi, 387 in Airport and 430 Mathura Road.

Note: AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.