Air pollution in the Delhi-NCR region has deteriorated on Diwali night with the Air Quality Index (AQI) reaching 'severe' category in some of the monitoring stations.
Wazipur recorded the worst AQI at 423, while Dwarka reported 417 and Ashok Vihar and Anand Vihar witnessing 404 each, according to CPCB app SAMEER. An AQI above 401 is considered severe.
The overall AQI was in the 'very poor' category at 345 up from Sunday's 326. This is expected to get worse on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Around 30 monitoring stations recorded 'very poor' AQI, which is 301 and above. The best AQI was recorded at Aurobindo Marg station at 158, which was in the 'moderate' category.
The CPCB categorises an AQI between 0 and 50 under "good" category, 51 to 100 as "satisfactory", 101 to 200 "moderate", 201 to 300 "poor", 301 to 400 "very poor", and 401 to 500 "severe".
Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) II guidelines were enforced in Delhi on Sunday by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), five days after GRAP I was invoked on October 14. Interstate buses that are BS-V or older are banned in the capital. Parking fees have been increased to discourage use of private transport. There are restrictions on diesel generators.
This came after a review of the sub-committee on GRAP on Saturday and forecasts by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM).
The Supreme Court has given permission to sell and burst green firecrackers in Delhi-NCR region from 6 am to 7 pm and from 8 pm to 10 pm on Diwali eve and the day of the festival.
