AQI 'very poor', fire continues to rage at Bhalswa landfill

NEW DELHI: Delhi's air quality on Thursday remained very poor even as the blaze at the Bhalswa landfill site continued to smoulder. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) recorded the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi at 331 at 1 pm.

An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 'severe'. The air quality in the capital had shown signs of improvement Monday as it moved from "very poor" to 'poor' category. Gurugram on Thursday again displayed poor air quality. Dangerous proportions of PM2.5 and PM10 were registered.

There were also high concentration of other poisonous gases like nitrogen oxide and sulphur dioxide. In a worrying trend for state agencies, Faridabad along with Gurugram are leading cities on NCR in terms of pollution.

Meanwhile, South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) on Thursday initiated some measures keeping in view the concern over deteriorating level of pollution in Delhi. "We decided to emphatically stop incidents of garbage of leaves burning by conducting night patrolling in all four zones. Despite a blanket ban on the burning of garbage of leaves it has been observed that the large number of such incidents are being witnessed resulting in damaging effect on the environment. SDMC is committed to stop such incidents in order to protect the lives of children, senior citizens and other person from the pollution related diseases," the SDMC said.