Delhiites woke up to an even polluted air on the morning of Diwali on Monday, as the air quality inched closed to ‘very poor’ category. The national capital became the “most polluted city” in the world with AQI 170 according to World AQI report formulated by Switzerland’s IQAir. The report also showed Mumbai trailing close behind at 160 in terms of poor air quality. According to the report, AQI between 151 to 200 qualified as “very unhealthy”.
According to IMD, Delhi reported a 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) of 298 on Diwali morning. However, Delhi’s AQI stood at 301 at 8 am on Monday. According to a PTI report, the dip in Delhi’s air quality was caused by unfavourable weather conditions, which allowed accumulation of pollutants. The report also held firecrackers and crop residue-burning responsible for the AQI recorded on Diwali morning.
Here is a list of top 10 cities with worst air quality according to the World AQI report (the report is dynamic)
- Delhi, India
- Mumbai, India
- Chengdu, China
- Hanoi, Vietnam
- Lahore, Pakistan
- Skopje, North Macedonia
- Milano, Italy
- Chongqing, China
- Sofia, Bulgaria
- Tashkent, Uzbekistan
A day before on Sunday, Delhi had reported a 24-hour average AQI of 259, which was lowest for the day before Diwali in seven years. However, pollution levels crept up at night as burst firecrackers in several parts of the city. Cases of stubble burning jumped to 1,318, the highest this season so far, the report added.
Among all areas of the national capital, Anand Vihar station reported “severe” pollution levels (AQI 401). Meanwhile, 20 of the 35 monitoring stations in Delhi recorded the air quality in the “very poor” category
The Delhi administration had on Saturday issued an order banning private construction in Anand Vihar and neighbouring areas considering the spike in air pollution levels there.
The neighbouring cities of Ghaziabad (302), Noida (302), Greater Noida (285), Gurugram (271) and Faridabad (256) reported poor to very poor air quality. An 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”.
(With PTI Inputs)
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Source: News18