Delhi’s air quality index fell to the ”severe” category on Wednesday, with a reading of 401 at 6 am and 11 am, according to the Central Pollution Control Board. The prominent pollutants was particulate matter, both PM 2.5 and PM 10.
Delhi also registered a below-normal minimum temperature on Wednesday, Hindustan Times reported. The Safdarjung observatory recorded the minimum temperature at 6.7 degrees Celsius, which is nearly four degrees below the season’s normal.
Earlier, a fire at east Delhi’s Ghazipur landfill added to the Capital’s problems.
#Delhi: Smoke billows as fire breaks out at the Ghazipur landfill pic.twitter.com/ZkuC0udank
— NewsMobile (@NewsMobileIndia) November 25, 2020
With the landfill fire raging overnight, the air quality index (AQI) recording 401 at 6am according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data. At 1pm, the AQI reading continued to remain in the dangerous level, at 406.
Air quality monitoring stations in east Delhi, which are closer to the landfill showed a major spike in pollution levels. At Patparganj, the levels were 423 and at Anand Vihar, the average AQI reading shot up to 445 at 1pm.
