The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi stood at 398 at 11 am, worsening from 357 at 4 pm on Friday. It was 354 on Thursday, 271 on Wednesday, 302 on Tuesday and 312 on Monday (Diwali).
The air quality in the capital has remained very poor or severe on most of the days in November so far.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board's mobile application SAMEER, the city recorded an air quality index of 168, which falls in the 'moderate' category, much better than Monday's AQI of 221, which falls in the 'poor' category.
Hailstorms were reported at various parts of the national capital including Palam, Chilpighat and Ayanagar, the IMD said.
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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that primary schools will be closed from Saturday in view of spike in pollution levels in the national capital.
Despite the national capital recording its best air quality on Diwali day in eight years, pollution levels may rise due to low night temperatures and sporadic burning of firecrackers though there is a ban on their manufacture, storage, sale and use within the city.
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The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to list for hearing on November 10 a PIL seeking issuance of fresh guidelines on stubble burning to curb rising air pollution in Delhi and the national capital region (NCR).
'If you keep on irritating the body by allowing all kinds of pollutants to get into it, the body cells are going to get irritated and cancer will come.'
According to Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB) Sameer app, the city's air quality index (AQI) stood at 449 in the severe category at 8 am on Saturday. It was 462 on Friday.
Assam has become a hotbed of "jihadi activities" with five modules having links with Bangladesh-based terror outfit Ansarul Islam busted in five months, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Thursday.
The India Meteorological Department on Wednesday issued an orange alert for Delhi, predicting 'heavy' to 'very heavy' rainfall in parts of the capital with winds gusting up to 60 kilometers per hour.
At 9 am on Monday, the air quality index (AQI) in the national capital stood at 207 against an AQI of 254 at the same time on Sunday.
Delhi's air quality was again in the severe category with the 24-hour average AQI recorded at 403 after remaining in the 'very poor' category till Tuesday morning, when the AQI was recorded at 396.
Skies over Delhi hung heavy with smoke and its air quality inched towards "severe" category on Diwali night as people burst firecrackers in a blatant disregard to the government's ban against it, imposed amid an increase in the contribution from farm fires.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the 24-hour average concentration of lung-damaging fine particles known as PM2.5 in Delhi-NCR shot up from 243 micrograms per cubic metre at 6 pm on Thursday (Diwali day) to 410 micrograms per cubic metre at 9 am on Friday, around seven times the safe limit of 60 micrograms per cubic metre.
Thirteen cities of the country had an average Air Quality Index above 400, which falls in "severe" category, with seven of them in Uttar Pradesh, five in Haryana and one in Bihar, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.
Green think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said the ongoing smog episode is a public health emergency.
The air quality index of neighbouring areas of Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon and Noida was recorded at 312, 368, 301 and 357, respectively.
As the air pollution in Delhi-NCR ameliorated over the last two days, the Centre's air quality panel Sunday directed authorities to lift the ban on plying of non-BS VI diesel light motor vehicles in the region and the entry of trucks into the capital imposed under the final stage of the Graded Response Action Plan.
Delhi's overall air quality index (AQI) stood at 463 at 11.30 am, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR).
This is the third time this season, after December 8 and January 1, that visibility has dropped to zero metres in the city.
The air quality in the national capital remained poor for the sixth consecutive day on Monday with stubble burning accounting for seven per cent of the capital's PM2.5 pollution.
Mercury hovered around 40 degrees Celsius in large parts of the country on Monday as the Indian meteorological department predicted heat wave conditions in parts of east India over the next four days and the northwest region over the next two days.
A thin layer of toxic haze hung over Delhi in the morning and the overall air quality index stood at 313 at 9 am. It continued its upward trend and was recorded at 337 at 1 pm.
The air quality had turned 'severe' on Saturday evening with stubble burning accounting for 32 per cent of Delhi's PM2.5 pollution, but firecracker emissions and calm winds made the situation even worse.
The city also recorded a maximum temperature of 23.8 degrees Celsius, 16 notches below normal and the lowest in the month of May since 1951, the IMD said.
At 9 am on Tuesday, the overall AQI of Delhi docked at 381, which falls in the 'very poor' category.
Colourful lights illuminated buildings and earthen lamps dotted houses as people across the country celebrated Diwali with pomp on Monday after two years of muted festivities due to the pandemic.
The nationwide 'Janta Curfew' followed by the 21-day lockdown to combat the coronavirus outbreak have led to a significant reduction in pollution in the country, with 91 cities recording air quality in the 'good' and 'satisfactory' category on March 29, a Central Pollution Control Board report has stated. Travel restrictions and the closure of industries have helped reduce the pollution level, it said.
"The overall Delhi's Air Quality Index is in the very poor category with few Delhi locations entering at higher zone but that will be short lived. This is mainly because the extremely calm local surface winds which were prevailing yesterday are likely to increase slightly and may further pick-up by Oct 26," SAFAR said.
22 of the 37 air quality monitoring stations across Delhi recorded the air quality in the severe category on Thursday morning.
Pollution levels in Delhi during the Diwali period are likely to remain in the higher end of the 'very poor' category in the absence of emissions due to fireworks, the Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality monitor, SAFAR said.
The dip in the air quality can be attributed to low wind speed and temperatures which allowed accumulation of pollutants.
The city's air quality index stood at 385 at 9.05 am, while that of Noida, Gurgaon and Greater Noida was recorded at 406, 363, 296, respectively.
Sunil Bharala, the chairman of the state Labour Welfare Council, said stubble burning is an 'age-old practice'.
With seasonal crop residue burning, coupled with vehicle emissions, calm winds and low temperatures persisting for some time, the thick layer of toxic smog has hovered over the national capital.
Delhi recorded an air quality index of 315 at 11:10 am. The last time the air quality hit such a poor level was in February.
In view of an 'improvement' in the air quality, the Delhi government has decided to resume physical classes in schools, colleges and other educational institutions and reopen government offices from November 29, environment minister Gopal Rai said on Wednesday.
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