Delhi-NCR under smog blanket as farm fires soar

A thick layer of smog engulfed Delhi as well as adjoining Gurgaon and Noida this morning as the pollution levels deteriorated to the “severe” category which is the worst on the scale.

The air quality index or AQI was 408 at 7 am with farm fires from Punjab, Haryana and western UP accounting for 32 per cent of the tiny PM 2.5 lung-damaging pollutants in the city’s air. The pollution level is the highest in the past two years during the period of mid-October to early November, according to data from the Ministry of Earth Science.

PM 2.5 are fine particles suspended in the air that are 2.5 microns or less in diameter and can travel deep into the respiratory tract, reaching the lungs and entering the bloodstream.

Apart from farm fires, construction dust and vehicular pollution are the other two main contributory factors for the pollution. The situation is made worse by unfavourable meteorological conditions as unless there is a strong wind to carry the pollutants away they keep hanging in the air. Low temperatures at night and in the morning also contribute to the pollutants remaining in the lower atmosphere.

Delhi-NCR residents have reported difficulties in breathing and an increase in respiratory diseases, with the elderly and school-going children being the worst hit due to the toxic air.

Doctors point out that prolonged exposure to toxic air which is at its worst in the morning when children leave for schools, can lead to serious health problems.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights urged Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to come up with concrete steps to control pollution and improve the quality of air in the national capital and shut schools till air quality improves.

The AQI between 401 and 500 is categorized as severe, the worst band on the index. 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”.