Heena Sharma Blog

For the third consecutive day, the air quality in the national capital was in the severe category on Tuesday. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, the overall air quality index (AQI) in the national capital on New Year's Day was 404, while the Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting (SAFAR) recorded an AQI of 405, both of which are under the 'severe' category. Nineteen areas in Delhi recorded 'severe' pollution, while 14 witnessed 'very poor' air quality, the CPCB data showed. Ghaziabad and Noida recorded 'severe' air quality, while in Faridabad and Gurgaon recorded it was in the 'very poor' category. The overall PM2.5 level (fine particulate matter in the air with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometer) was recorded at 280 and the PM10 level at 465 in Delhi, the CPCB said. The SAFAR has said the air quality would improve slightly "provided that no additional local emi...

A thick blanket of haze continued to engulf the national capital on Friday, experts warned that the air quality is likely to worsen further as the pollution level entered the "severe-plus emergency" category, or 11 times the permissible limit, due to rampant bursting of toxic firecrackers on Diwali , in violation of a Supreme Court order. The Supreme Court's firecracker ban on Diwali was violated with impunity across Delhi and NCR on Diwali with people bursting crackers till late into the night leading to a thick haze on Thursday morning and air quality dipping six times from the normal. As a result of smoke from the firecrackers, the overall AQI in Delhi jumped to 422 which falls in the severe category, according to the data by SAFAR. The PM2.5 (particles in the air with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres) and PM10 concentrations touched 492 and 618 respectively, both in the severe category, according to SAFAR data. An AQI between 0 and 50 is considere...