People of Delhi continued to inhale copious amounts of pollutants, with air quality being in 'severe' zone, but emergency measures, enforced to arrest peak levels of pollution, stayed out of sight.
With a reading of 402, the National Air Quality Index of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) declared Delhi's air as "severe", a condition that affects healthy people and seriously impacts those suffering from diseases.
According to the Ministry of Earth Science's System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), PM 10 and PM 2.5 average (rolling) were 194 and 342 micrograms per cubic metre respectively.
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Two monitoring stations run by SAFAR, at Dhirpur and Delhi University, logged "severe" air quality index, while the rest had it in "very poor" category in the evening.
The real-time readings of Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) had PM 10 at 1,007, over ten times the 24-hour ambient standard of 100. The corresponding prescribed standard of PM 2.5 is 60.
Weather officials attributed the situation to low wind speed and high levels of moisture that helps trap pollutants.
As per the graded action plan submitted by the Centre to the Supreme Court, which has been accepted, measures such as odd-even scheme and ban on construction can be automatically enforced if 'severe' conditions persist for 48 hours at a stretch.
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