New DElhi: A thick layer of smog blanketed Delhi on Friday as the city's air quality remained in the "severe" zone for the second consecutive day, primarily due to unfavourable meteorological conditions and raging farm fires in Punjab.
At 4 pm, Delhi's 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 447. The concentration of lung-damaging fine particles, known as PM2.5, was above 470 micrograms per cubic metre, around eight times above the safe limit of 60 micrograms per cubic metre, in many areas.
An AQI of above 400 is considered "severe" and can affect healthy people and seriously impact those with existing illnesses.
Almost all the monitoring stations in the capital reported "severe" air quality, including 13 that logged an AQI of more than 450.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a 24-hour average PM2.5 concentration of up to 15 micrograms per cubic metre is considered safe.
Alarmed by the hazardous pollution levels, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said primary schools would be closed from Saturday.
At a press conference, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai ordered 50 per cent staff of the city government to work from home and said an advisory would be issued to private offices to follow suit.
Rai said the schools would be asked to curtail outdoor activities for senior students.
In a bid to ramp up public transport, the government will also launch the "Paryavaran Bus Service", which will include 500 privately-run CNG buses.
According to a study conducted by The Energy and Resources Institute in 2018, vehicular emissions account for around 40 per cent of the PM2.5 pollution in the capital.
Revenue commissioners have been asked to prepare a plan for staggered timings for markets and offices, Rai said.
The maximum temperature settled at 31.3 degrees Celsius while the minimum temperature was recorded at 16.5 degrees Celsius, a notch below normal, the weather office said.
The relative humidity oscillated between 96 per cent and 53 per cent throughout the day, the weather office said.
"There would be a partly cloudy sky on Saturday with shallow fog in the morning. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to hover around 30 and 16 degrees Celsius respectively," an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official said.
Delhi's 24-hour average AQI had jumped to 450, just a notch short of the "severe plus" category, on Thursday, prompting the authorities to invoke the final stage of anti-pollution curbs under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), including a ban on non-BS VI diesel-run light motor vehicles.
The entry of trucks in Delhi other than those run on electric and CNG is banned too. The trucks carrying essential commodities are exempted.
According to the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago's Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) released in June, the residents of Delhi stand to lose 10 years of life expectancy due to poor air quality.
An analysis conducted by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) in 2021 showed people in the capital breathe the worst air between November 1 and November 15, when stubble burning peaks.
The share of stubble burning in Delhi's PM2.5 pollution stood at 30 per cent on Friday. It had jumped to 34 per cent on Thursday, the highest so far this season, which experts said was the reason behind the thick layer of smog persisting over Delhi-NCR.
Punjab reported 2,437 farm fires on Friday. The count was 2,666 on Thursday, 3,634 on Wednesday, the highest so far this season, 1,842 on Tuesday, 2,131 on Monday, 1,761 on Sunday, 1,898 on Saturday and 2,067 on Friday.
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