Delhi: Pollution action plan comes into force as AQI plunges to 'Poor' category; check details

As Delhi grapples with deteriorating air quality, the national capital's minimum temperature on Saturday (October 7) settled at 20.9 degrees Celsius. At 9 am, the Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 231, pushing it further into the "poor" category. The AQI scale categorizes air quality as follows: 0-50 (good), 51-100 (satisfactory), 101-200 (moderate), 201-300 (poor), 301-400 (very poor), and 401-500 (severe).

Reacting to the declining air quality, the central government's air quality panel on Friday took action, instructing local authorities in the National Capital Region (NCR) to ban coal usage in hotels and restaurants and crack down on polluting industries. These measures are part of the pollution control plan known as the 'Graded Response Action Plan' (GRAP).

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The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) invoked Stage 1 of GRAP, stating that these measures are essential to prevent further deterioration of air quality in the region. GRAP classifies actions into four stages based on AQI levels: Stage I ('Poor' with AQI 201-300), Stage II ('Very Poor' with AQI 301-400), Stage III ('Severe' with AQI 401-450), and Stage IV ('Severe Plus' with AQI > 450).

Additionally, the India Meteorological Department has predicted that Delhi's maximum temperature is likely to settle around 37 degrees Celsius.

This worsening air quality in Delhi comes in the wake of an increase in farm fires in Punjab, contributing to the decline in air quality levels across the region.

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