Delhi's air quality turned "hazardous" on Friday as thick smog engulfed the national capital, news agency ANI reported.
According to SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research), an autonomous metereological body set up under the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, the overall Air Quality Index of Delhi at 8:15 am on Friday was recorded at 428, which falls under the "hazardous" category.
Meanwhile, the Delhi government on Friday issued an appeal requesting Delhiites not to use diesel vehicles till Nov 10 in order to control air pollution in the national capital.
On Thursday, Delhi recorded its worst air quality of the year on the morning after Diwali, with the pollution level entering the “severe-plus emergency” category, or 11 times the permissible limit, due to rampant bursting of toxic firecrackers in violation of a Supreme Court order
As Delhi’s government’s transport department banned the entry of heavy vehicles in the city from 11 pm on Thursday to 11 pm on November 11, the Supreme Court-appointed environment pollution control authority said it was monitoring the situation and will take emergency measures if the pollution level increases. The emergency measures include odd-even rationing of private vehicles.
A report by research group Urban Emissions said close to 50 lakh kilogrammes of firecrackers were burnt in Delhi this year, the same amount of firecrackers burnt last year which equated to 1,50,000 kg of mass of PM2.5 (particles in the air with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres).
Watch: Air quality turns 'hazardous' in Delhi
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