Delhi Engulfed In Smog As Air Quality Plummets To 'Very Poor' In Several Areas

Delhi's air quality remains "very poor," prompting complaints of breathing difficulties. The Yamuna river also faces pollution, while NCR areas like Noida and Gurugram experience poor air quality.

The air quality in Delhi continued to remain in the "very poor" category in several areas on Saturday with a thin layer of smog also engulfing the city while the pollution level in the Yamuna river also rose. 

Due to smog, residents complained of difficulty breathing and urged the government to take steps to mitigate the crisis. 

"The pollution in Delhi has increased and we are having trouble breathing. The government should take steps to control the pollution," a resident said while speaking to ANI. 

Other residents also voiced concern over the issue of pollution and asked the government for intervention. 

The air quality in the NCR was also in the poor category. On Friday as of 4 pm, the air quality in Uttar Pradesh's Noida and Greater Noida was in poor category AQIs at 242 and 264.

Faridabad and Gurugram in Haryana also recorded poor air quality with AQIs at 242 and 204.

An AQI between zero 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".

On Friday, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said the government has formed a coordination committee each to identify and mitigate local sources of pollution at 13 locations in the city stifled with "very poor" air quality. 

Addressing a press conference, the environment minister said that while the whole of Delhi is breathing 'poor' air, it was particularly 'very poor' at 13 hotspots, where the Air Quality Index crossed 300.

These places are Anand Vihar, Ashok Vihar, Dwarka Sector 8, Mundka, Jahangirpuri, Rohini, Narela, Okhla, Punjabi Bagh, R.K Puram, Vivek Vihar, Wazirpur, and Bawana, reported PTI.