Delhi Gasps For Air As AQI Degrades To 'Very poor' Category; Know How Does It Affect Health

As winter approaches, Delhi faces the same problem of pollution once again. The AQI has dipped and reached the 'Very Poor' category.

New Delhi: As winter approaches, Delhi is bracing to face the problem of pollution and smog that cripples it every year. The air quality in the capital city has deteriorated further and on Tuesday the Air Quality Index (AQI) at Wazirpur reached 372 which falls under the 'Very Poor' category. Air that falls in this category is associated with causing respiratory illness on prolonged exposure. A report by PTI says that according to the Ministry of Earth Sciences' Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi, an increase in farm fires in Punjab, Haryana, and neighbouring regions of Pakistan is also going to impact the air quality in Delhi-NCR. The city recorded an air quality index (AQI) of 304 at 9:30 am, which falls in the very poor category. The 24-hour average AQI was 261 on Monday, the worst since February. It was 216 on Sunday and 221 on Saturday. A senior scientist at the Delhi Pollution Control Committee said in the report that the deteriorating air quality can be attributed to low wind speed and temperatures which aids accumulation of pollutants. The area that had comparatively better quality was Lodhi Road which recorded an AQI of 196 which falls under the Moderate category. Here's how the AQI impacts health

0-50	Good Minimal impact
51-100	Satisfactory minor breathing discomfort to sensitive people
101-200	Moderate Breathing discomfort to the people with lungs, asthma, and heart diseases
201-300	Poor Breathing discomfort to most people on prolonged exposure
301-400	Very Poor Respiratory illness on prolonged exposure
401-500	Severe Affects healthy people and seriously impacts those with existing diseases

The Delhi government has also upped its ante against pollution and has tightened its norms. In order to deal with extreme situations, the Arvind Kejriwal government has now placed anti-smoke guns at various construction sites in order and has made it mandatory for demolition sites larger than 20,000 square meters. The government has also inaugurated ' a green war room' in the Delhi Secretariat to keep an eye on the measures to control pollution. A PTI report says that there are 13 pollution hotpots  in the city- Okhla Phase-II, Dwarka, Ashok Vihar, Bawana, Narela, Mundka, Punjabi Bagh, Wazirpur, Rohini, Vivek Vihar, Anand Vihar, R K Puram, and Jahangirpuri. Recently, the Kejriwal led government charged Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) with a Rs 20lakh fine for violating dust control norms at a demolition site on Tansen Marg. WATCH NOW: