New Delhi: The air quality in the national capital has improved slightly on Saturday due to higher wind speed, which is expected to flush out pollutants further over the next two days, weather experts said. But according to the data released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Ghaziabad is the most polluted city in the country today.
According to CPCB's Sameer app, the city's air quality index (AQI) in Delhi stood at 449 in the severe category at 8 am on Saturday. It was 462 on Friday.
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'.
Due to rampant bursting of crackers on Diwali on Thursday despite restrictions in place, the air quality in Delhi was the poorest in five years post the festival with rise in incidents of stubble burning in neighbouring states. The city's AQI slipped to the 'severe' category on Thursday night and continued its upward trend to reach 462 at noon on Friday.
The weather office has predicted strong surface winds that will help clear out pollutants in the city's air on Saturday.
Experts said the air quality degraded to severe in Delhi-NCR due to unfavourable weather conditions calm winds, low temperature and low mixing height and a poisonous cocktail of emissions from firecrackers, stubble burning and local sources.
The Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality forecast agency, SAFAR, stated that stubble burning accounted for 36 percent of Delhi's PM2.5 on Friday, the highest in this season so far.
Delhi witnessed a cold morning on Saturday as the minimum temperature in the city was recorded at 14.7 degrees Celsius, normal for this time of the season.
The maximum temperature is likely to hover around 28 degrees Celsius, it said. Humidity at 8.30 am was 78 per cent, the IMD said.
Pollution wreaked havoc in neighbouring Ghaziabad making life difficult for people. People are facing health-related problems due to the increasing pollution level in the air. According to the Central Pollution Control Board, the Air Quality Index (AQI) of Ghaziabad is 486. To make matters worse, data released by the Central Pollution Control Board stated that Ghaziabad is the most polluted city in the country today.
Overall the air pollution in and around the capital has left a calamitous impact on the people. Hospitals have witnessed an unusual rush with the number of patients with respiratory problems have increased manifold. Here's a brief list of hospitals that have received patients with respiratory problems:
AIIMS 110
Safdarjung Hospital 78
Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket (Max Saket) 35
LNJP 65
RML Hospital 70
Doctors have suggested some do's and dont's:
* Children, asthma patients and the elderly should not venture out if the pollution level exceeds 200 mcg/m3.
* People should keep checking the level of pollution in the outside air and if the amount of pollution in the air is high, then good quality masks should be worn for protection.
* Keep the air inside the house clean.
* Exposure to sunlight for a long time should also be avoided because sunlight produces ozone gas.
* Include more antioxidants in your diets such as fruits and vegetables.
* Increase the number of vitamins in the body.
