With ‘severe’ air quality, city braces for ‘critically polluted’ days

Delhiites on Thursday inhaled severely poor quality air which had respirable pollutants up to nine times above the safe limit at certain places even as authorities warned of a “critically polluted” period ahead.

Anand Vihar, the city’s pollution hotspot, had PM 10 (suspended particulate matter) at over 962 micrograms per cubic metre at 2 PM, as against the safe limit of 100, days ahead of Diwali, which is expected to worsen the situation. The figure was recorded by Delhi Pollution Control Committee’s (DPCC) real-time air quality monitor.

Even residential areas such as Mandir Marg and R K Puram had AQI in the severe category as per the monitoring stations of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).