Smog cover envelops Delhi after Diwali
Air quality in the Capital hovers between very poor and severe.
Two days after Diwali, Delhi's air quality continued to hover between the 'very poor' and 'severe' category with the overall air quality index settling at a shocking 400 on Tuesday evening.
This is the worst ever AQI recorded since February this year. The AQI in areas like Jahangirpuri, Anand Vihar, ITO and Dwarka hovered around the 400 mark (severe category) throughout Tuesday.
Delhi's already worsening air quality saw a spike on Diwali night after multiple violations were seen across the national capital.
The Centre for Science and Environment on Tuesday highlighted that Diwali pollution this year was somewhat similar to the pollution levels in 2018.
From a relatively clean afternoon to an extremely toxic late evening, after 10 pm was drastic. There was a 10-fold jump in PM 2.5 concentrations between 5 pm and 1 am due to the bursting of firecrackers.
The levels of pollution during 1 am and 3 am were quite similar to the ones observed in 2018 during Diwali.
The only reason the overall AQI didn't get as bad this time as last year, the day after Diwali, was due to favourable environmental conditions. In 2018, the rise in pollution continued until 8 am, whereas this year, it showed a sharper fall after 3 am.
To make things worse, paddy burning began on Monday in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana, the smoke from which is expected to have an adverse effect on the already deteriorating air quality in Delhi-NCR.
A spike in pollution levels was seen on Diwali in areas like RK Puram, Ashok Vihar and Patparganj, the air-quality slipped into the 'severe' category and touched the 999 mark. Notably, 999 is the maximum reading for a pollution meter.
However, things started getting better on Monday morning.