Delhi air remains in 'very poor' category; second most polluted worldwide

Air pollution is becoming worse in Maharashtra and Gujarat as well despite their geographical advantages, says advocacy group.

Delhi's air was 'very poor' Thursday morning, making the national capital the world's second most polluted city as more places in India were warned of similar public health crises.

Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) was 331 at 8 am, according to the Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality forecast agency SAFAR. Readings below 50 are considered safe, 51 and 100 is 'satisfactory' and anything above 300 is considered hazardous or 'severe'.

According to SAFAR, Delhi's AQI will remain 'very poor' on January 20, 21 and is expected to improve as "high wind speed is likely from Jan 21 resulting in dilution of pollutants and improvement of AQI."

Delhi was this morning the world's second most polluted city in the world with an AQI of 255, according to IQAir.

This came as a new analysis by advocacy group Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said air pollution is becoming worse in the western states of Maharashtra and Gujarat as well despite their geographical advantages and favourable meteorology.

"The number of bad-air days in Mumbai have doubled between 2019 and 2021, while good days are down by 20 per cent," said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, CSE.

India is failing in efforts to improve its toxic air quality, with the number of smog-plagued cities increasing since the launch of a national program to tackle the issue, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

A total of 132 cities now have pollution levels deemed below national standards, from 102 cities when the National Clean Air Programme began in 2019, according to a report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.