Delhi’s air quality index read 338 at 7 a.m. on Saturday, November 29, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). That was a small step down from Friday’s 385. It was still the “very poor” band, and it made 15 days in a row.
The city’s 24-hour average on Friday came in at 369. Earlier that day, 19 of Delhi’s 39 monitoring stations had logged “severe” air in the early hours before conditions eased a little.
Station by station
Most CPCB stations stayed in the very poor range on Saturday morning. Dwarka Sector 8 read 368, Bawana and Rohini both 364, Vivek Vihar 358, Punjabi Bagh 355 and Anand Vihar 354. Chandni Chowk was at 351, Ashok Vihar and Burari at 347, ITO at 343 and Patparganj at 341.
A few spots fared better, though only into the “poor” category: IGI Airport at 295, Dilshad Garden at 272, NSIT Dwarka at 252 and Mandir Marg at 251.
The week’s daily averages show how little the numbers moved. Monday came in at 382, Tuesday 352, Wednesday 327 and Thursday 377. Every one sat in the very poor range.
Neighbouring cities
The National Capital Region looked much the same. Noida logged 344 and Ghaziabad 333. Gurugram recorded 293, while Faridabad, at 207, was the cleanest of the four.
A week earlier, on the tenth straight day, the picture was worse in places. Delhi’s overall AQI was 380 that Sunday morning. At 7:15 am Jahangirpuri hit 438, Bawana 431, Anand Vihar 427 and Ashok Vihar 421, all in the severe range. Ghaziabad reached 426 and Noida 396.
Response and outlook
The day before, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) had tightened the Graded Response Action Plan for Delhi-NCR. Some restrictions now start at an earlier stage as the AQI falls. Staggered working hours for government offices, once a Stage III step, moved to Stage II. Offices running at 50 per cent staff attendance, with the rest working from home, moved from Stage IV to Stage III.
The Delhi government separately directed private offices to keep half their staff on site and let the others work from home. Other measures on the list include a steady power supply so that diesel generators are not used, extra traffic personnel at congestion points, and more CNG and electric buses running more often.
Forecasters see no meaningful improvement in the coming week, because weather conditions are still poor for clearing pollutants. The India Meteorological Department expected fog on Saturday, with a high near 26 degrees Celsius and a low around 11 degrees Celsius.
Sources
- Delhi's air remains 'very poor' for 15th day despite slight improvement
- Delhi chokes on very poor air for 10th straight day, AQI severe in several areas
- Delhi smog visible from space as air quality ranked ‘severe’ for second day running
