Delhi air quality enters very poor category as haze covers city
The Commission for Air Quality Management has invoked Stage 2 of the Graded Response Action Plan across the national capital region.
A thick haze covered the Delhi skyline on Tuesday morning as the city's air quality index (AQI) remained in the very poor category. According to the Hindustan Times, the AQI stood at 331 at 7:05 am on Tuesday, following a 24-hour average of 324 on Monday.
The deteriorating air quality prompted the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to implement Stage 2 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across the national capital region on Monday. Under these rules, authorities in Delhi and several NCR districts, including Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, and Gautam Buddha Nagar, must adjust the working hours for municipal and government staff.
Data from monitoring stations showed that eight areas, including Bawana, Narela, and Punjabi Bagh, fell into the severe category on Tuesday morning. In northwestern Delhi, Jahangirpuri recorded an AQI of 417, which Scroll reported as the highest in the capital since February.
Other regional readings included an AQI of 308 in Noida and 225 in Gurugram. In Haryana, Faridabad recorded a moderate AQI of 118.
NASA satellite data identified 1,561 farm fires in Punjab and Haryana between October 1 and November 2. Of these, 1,406 were in Punjab and 155 were in Haryana, according to the Hindustan Times.