The air quality index in Delhi moved from "severe" to "very poor" category on Monday. An increase in wind speed helped slightly reduce the deadly haze that has choked Delhi residents for about a week, news agency PTI reported. A day after pollution levels rose to a three-year high, Delhi's air quality index at 4 pm on Monday was 407. It dipped further and at 8.30 pm the AQI stood at 370 (very poor category).
The weather office has said that said Cyclone Maha and a western disturbance will cause rain in Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and Delhi NCR on Wednesday and Thursday, which might improve the situation, PTI reported.
On Monday, top officials from Delhi, Punjab and Haryana talked about several measures adopted by them to tackle air pollution over the past 24 hours in a meeting held by the Prime Minister's Office on Monday. The measures included fines on farmers involved in stubble burning and sprinkling water in "pollution hotspots" across the states.
Here are the highlights on Delhi's air pollution today:
"PM Narendra Modi chaired a meeting in which the situation arising due to pollution in various parts of northern India was discussed," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted.
The Prime Minister also reviewed the situation arising due to cyclone conditions in parts of western India.
The meet on pollution comes after back-to-back review meetings held by PK Mishra, the principal secretary to the prime minister, with top officials of Delhi, Punjab and Haryana on Sunday and Monday.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi's air quality index dropped from 365 at 9.45 am to 331 at 3.45 pm on Tuesday.
Air pollution levels in Delhi are expected to drop today due to an increase in wind speed even though the air quality stayed in the ''very poor'' category in the morning."
Talking to reporters in Patna after a high-level meeting on pollution control chaired by the Chief Minister, Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar said the restriction on vehicles more than 15 years old has also been extended to commercial vehicles "only for the Patna metropolitan area".