Delhi air quality improves, records moderate AQI of 190 amid emergency measures

Noida (219) and Gurugram (169) were among the areas in NCR that improved the AQI

New Delhi air quality has improved on Wednesday morning after it recorded a 'moderate' Air Quality Index (AQI) of 190, as per SAFAR-India. This is a considerable improvement compared to Tuesday morning's AQI of 303.

The AQI improvement comes days after the government implemented the second phase of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP II), which includes discouraging people from using private vehicles and banning use of diesel generators.

As per the AQI scale, the air quality of 0-50 is "good", 51-100 "satisfactory", 101-200 "moderate", 201-300 "poor", 301-400 "very poor" and 401-450 "severe."

Delhi University air quality improved to 273 (poor) on Wednesday from Tuesday's AQI of 335 (very poor), according to SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research). IIT Delhi area's very poor AQI of 306 on the previous day became a moderate 173 on Wednesday morning.

Other localities in the national capital also improved their air quality to 'moderate' with Signature Bridge and Akshardham registering 190 on the index and Lodhi Road 149.

At least 13 pollution hotspots in the city recorded over 300 AQI on Tuesday. There are 21 hotspots in the city in total, including Shadipur, ITO, Mandir Marg, Nehru Nagar, Patparganj, Sonia Vihar, Dhyan Chand Stadium, Moti Bagh, Anand Vihar, Mundka, Wazirpur, Jahangirpuri, RK Puram, Rohini, Punjabi Bagh, Okhla, Bawana, Vivek Vihar, Narela, Ashok Vihar and Dwarka.

Noida, which recorded an AQI of 308 (very poor) on Tuesday morning, bettered its air quality to 219 (poor) on Wednesday while Gurugram air quality improved from the previous day's poor AQI of 249 to a moderate 169.

Paddy straw burning in Punjab and Haryana in October and November are one of the reasons behind the deteriorating air quality in Delhi-NCR region. More than 2,500 cases of stubble burning have been reported in Punjab and Haryana so far this year. The Delhi environment ministry stated that farm fires contributed to 34 per cent of Delhi's PM2.5 pollution on November 3, 2022, and 48 per cent on November 7, 2021.