Delhi's air quality plummets on Diwali afternoon; AQI very poor at 334

New Delhi: Delhi's air quality nose dived on Monday, the Diwali afternoon, as pollution levels at 31 out of 38 monitoring stations redlined at 'very poor', and 'severe' at three stations.

According to the SAMEER app by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi recorded an overall AQI of 334 at noon, compared to 339 at 9 am.

Thirty-one monitoring stations reported air quality in the 'very poor' category with AQI levels above 300, while three stations – Anand Vihar (402), Wazirpur (423), and Ashok Vihar (414) – logged pollution to be in the 'severe' category.

The air quality is expected to deteriorate further into the 'severe' category more widely on Tuesday and Wednesday.

An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered 'good', 51 to 100 'satisfactory', 101 to 200 'moderate', 201 to 300 'poor', 301 to 400 'very poor', and 401 to 500 'severe.' Earlier, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) invoked Stage II of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across Delhi-NCR.

The move came after the review of the sub-committee on GRAP on Saturday and forecasts by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM).

On October 15, the Supreme Court allowed the sale and bursting of green firecrackers in Delhi-NCR between 6 am and 7 pm and again from 8 pm to 10 pm on the day of Diwali and a day before.

Meanwhile, the city recorded a minimum temperature of 20.2 degrees Celsius at 8.30 am.

The IMD has predicted fog mist in the morning and mainly clear sky later in the day.

The maximum temperature is expected to be 33 degrees Celsius.