Days before Diwali, the national capital's air quality plunged to "very poor" category and was in the "severe" category in Mundka, one of the 14 pollution hotspots in Delhi, owning primarily to unfavourable wind speed.
Twenty of the 37 air quality monitoring stations recorded pollution levels in the "very poor" category.
While the monitoring station at Mundka recorded the air quality index at 428, which falls in the "severe" category, Anand Vihar recorded AQI of 390, Wazirpur 363, Jahangirpuri 359, Rohini 356, Dwarka sector eight 351 and Bawana 346.
AQI in the neighbouring towns of Baghpat, Bhiwadi, Ghaziabad, Greater Noida, Gurgaon, and Noida was 314, 312, 346, 327, 310 and 328 respectively.
An AQI between 0 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'.
The Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality forecast and research service, SAFAR, said, "The overall air quality of Delhi is in the 'very poor' category. The decrease in wind speed has started to negatively influence Delhi's air quality by drastically decreasing ventilation coefficients and thereby effecting dispersion."
"The fire count in northern India has reduced slightly but is still moderate at 700. However, winds in the boundary layer, where biomass intrusion takes place, are not quite favourable to influence Delhi's air quality significantly for the next two days."
The minister said DPCC officials inspected the site on October 16 and issued a notice to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on October 22, asking it to remove the debris within 72 hours. "The land-owning agency is yet to initiate any action."
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