Air Quality Index is a yardstick used to measure the quality of air in a particular area. It is measured from 0 to 500. A higher AQI indicates greater level of pollutants in the air.
The maximum temperature is expected to settle at 19 degrees Celsius. Isolated thunderstorms and hail are predicted over Delhi on Friday and Saturday, the IMD said.
The level of PM10 (226) and PM2.5 (122) pollutants in the air were recorded in the moderate and very poor categories, respectively with the latter being the major source of pollutant in the city.
Meanwhile, the air quality of NCR region like Noida, Gurugram remains in 'severe' and in 'very poor category respectively.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the rice manufacturers, submitted before the bench that they had made a representation in the first week of December seeking relaxation, but the commission has not decided it yet.
The city's 24-hour air quality index (AQI) stood at 406 on Friday. Neighbouring Faridabad (434), Ghaziabad, (376) Gurugram (378) and Noida (392) also recorded their air quality in the 'very poor' category.
On November 13, the Delhi government had ordered closure of all educational institutes, banned construction and demolition activities and asked its employees to work from home to combat air pollution and minimise its health effects.
According to the directions of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), schools and colleges will remain closed till further orders.
Construction and demolition work has also been banned till November 21 in Delhi, while schools and other educational institutes will remain closed in the national capital until further orders, Rai informed.
The campaign to reduce Delhi's air pollution was started on October 18 and was to end on November 18 but seeing the spike in pollution levels, the government has decided to start the second phase of the campaign from Friday (November 19).
According to the fire department, the 13 identified pollution hotspots include Anand Vihar, Ashok Vihar, Bawana, Dwarka, Jahangirpuri, Mundka, Narela, Okhla, Punjabi Bagh, R K Puram, Rohini, Vivek Vihar, and Wazirpur.
Delhi-NCR regions including Ghaziabad, Noida, and the national capital itself are under severe category with AQIs above 400. Not only the Delhi-NCR regions but Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow is also gasping for clean air.
According to an official report released by the Delhi government, the contribution of stubble burning to the city's PM 2.5 pollution was recorded at 36 per cent as of Friday. This is the highest emission so far this season.
Ahead of the festive season, the Delhi government had announced a complete ban on firecrackers till January 1, 2022, and ran a campaign against their sale and use. However, the AQI at the end of Friday was recorded at 462.
Gopal Rai said Delhi's base pollution has remained the same. Only two factors have been added - firecrackers and stubble burning.
Ministry of Earth Sciences' forecast body SAFAR said the city's Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded as 350, which falls in the 'very poor' category with PM2.5 as the lead pollutant.
According to the report of CPCB, the Sector-51 area of the city was the most polluted, recording AQI at 359 SPM and in that too, the average amount of PM2.5 particles were recorded up to 325 micrograms per household meter.
With the onset of winter and the withdrawal of monsoon in the northwest region of the country, the wind changes direction from easterly to north-westerly.
New Delhi will witness a partially cloudy sky on Tuesday, however, there is no possibility of rain yet.
Delhi woke up to "dense to very dense fog" on Saturday with the minimum temperature settling at 10.4 degrees Celsius, as per the Meteorological department.
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