Delhi-NCR’s air quality on brink of ’emergency’

New Delhi: Delhi woke up to a grey morning as an apocalyptic smog blotted out the sun from the sky and smudged landmarks from view with air quality inching closer to emergency levels on Tuesday.
Air quality monitoring stations at Mandir Marg, Punjabi Bagh, Pusa, Rohini, Patparganj, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Najafgarh, Sri Aurobindo Marg and Okhla Phase 2 maxed out as air quality indexes hit the 500 mark, Central Pollution Control Board data showed.
The smog reduced the visibility to merely 300 meters in the morning affecting traffic, an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
Delhi recorded an AQI of 487 at 9 am, which falls in the severe category. The neighbouring cities of Faridabad (474), Ghaziabad (476), Noida (490), Greater Noida (467), and Gurugram (469) also recorded severe air quality.
This is the sixth severe air day on the trot in Delhi. The city witnessed seven severe air days in November last year.
The levels of PM2.5 finer particles which can even enter the bloodstream in Delhi-NCR were 605 g/m3 at 8 am around ten times the safe limit of 60 g/m3.