Delhi air pollution: AQI zooms to over 400, over 14 areas record ‘severe’ air quality

Delhi's air pollution woes continue to get worse with each day, as over 14 areas in the national capital recorded an AQI of over 400 on Sunday. Most of these areas that had ‘very poor’ air quality last week, have now fallen to the ‘severe’ zone, CPCB data showed.

Lodhi Road, Burari crossing and Sri Aurobindo Marg were the only three areas where the Air Quality Index (AQI) still hovered around 350, which indicates ‘very poor’ air quality.

Here are the AQIs of the other zones, as of Sunday, November 17, 7am:

Pusa - 426 ( severe)
Shadipur- 457 (severe plus)

Punjabi Bagh - 448 (severe)

North Campus, DU - 430 (severe)

Mundka- 465 (severe)

Mandir Marg - 436 (severe)

Jahangirpuri - 467 (severe plus)

Sonia Vihar -442 (severe)

Graded Response Action Plan(GRAP) for the National Capital Region (NCR) is classified under four different stages of adverse air quality in Delhi: Stage I -- 'poor' (AQI 201-300); Stage II -- 'very poor' (AQI 301-400); Stage III -- 'severe' (AQI 401-450); and Stage IV -- 'severe plus' (AQI >450).

Delhi pollution: Measures taken so far

Restrictions under the GRAP stage 3 came into force on Friday, November 15. Authorities intensified action against those violating norms with teams of traffic police, transport department and others penalising violators.

The Delhi Traffic Police issued around 550 challans for violation of a ban on the plying of BS III petrol and BS IV diesel vehicles. A fine of over Rs1 crore was imposed on the first day of restrictions under the third stage of GRAP.

According to the Centre's Decision Support System for Air Quality Management, stubble burning was the primary source of Delhi's air pollution on Thursday, which accounts for 37% of the total pollution. Vehicular emissions contributed about 12% to the overall pollution, the department reported.