Delhi Gasps for Breath as Toxic Haze Engulfs City; People Face Eye Irritation, Respiratory Issues

New Delhi: A shroud of haze covered the national capital on Thursday as the air quality was close to “severe” level; people complained of eye irritation and coughing. Experts blamed meteorological conditions that trap pollutants near the surface for the increase in pollution levels. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said fog is expected to persist throughout the week in the early morning and late evening as particulate matter continues to accumulate near ground level.

Delhi, which has witnessed a decline in air quality since Diwali, recorded ‘very poor’ air quality with an AQI of 373, a sharp increase from AQI of 279 the previous day. Fog has reduced visibility significantly, with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) recording PM 2.5 levels at 184.4 and PM 10 at 301.9.

CPCB said 37 of 38 monitoring stations in the city recorded “very poor” air quality with over 300 measurements. Vivek Vihar (426), Anand Vihar (415), Ashok Vihar (414), Bawana (411), Wazirpur (419) and Sonia Vihar (406) saw air quality in the “serious” category.

In NCR region, Noida recorded AQI of 372, Ghaziabad 364, Greater Noida 330, Gurugram 248 and Faridabad 166.

According to the CPCB classification, an AQI of zero to 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 to 100 is ‘satisfactory’, 101 to 200 is ‘moderate’, 201 to 300 is ‘poor’, 301 to 400 is ‘very poor’ and 401 to 500 is ‘severe’.

Experts said the yellowish smoke engulfing the city was smog, a mixture of smog and pollutants that reduces visibility and poses serious health risks, especially for vulnerable groups.

According to IMD’s Decision Support System, Delhi’s transport sector contributed around 15.9 percent to PM2.5 levels, while stubble burning accounted for around 6 percent and emissions from Delhi residents around 4 percent.

Neighboring cities such as Ghaziabad and Noida contributed 10 per cent and 6 per cent respectively to the pollution, while other regional sources contributed over 22 per cent combined.

Satellite data for October 29 detected 283 cases of farm fires in Punjab and 10 in Haryana; This shows the continuing impact of stubble burning on Delhi’s deteriorating air quality.

Weather experts attributed the increase in pollution to meteorological conditions that trapped pollutants near the surface.

“The drop in minimum temperature helps create a haze layer as pollution settles in the lower atmosphere,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice president of meteorology and climate change at Skymet Weather.

According to him, the wind blowing from the east at a speed of 2 to 5 kilometers per hour and the increase in humidity on Thursday worsened the air quality. He said medium and low clouds obscured the sky and isolated light rain was recorded in Noida and Faridabad.

Sunil Dahiya, founder and principal analyst at Envirocatalyst, said: “Reduced wind speed and overcast weather conditions reduce pollutant dispersion. Emission sources in energy, industrial, transport, waste and construction sectors in Delhi-NCR need to be targeted to see significant improvement.”

Dipankar Saha, former additional director of CPCB and head of weather laboratory, said: “Poor air quality due to air stagnation due to low wind speed and shallow thermal boundary layer is typical for this season.”

“The Indo-Gangetic Plain witnesses low wind speed, which hinders ventilation. However, this does not mean that emission control can be ignored; reducing emissions will still reduce exposure to harmful pollutants,” he said.

The Delhi Air Quality Early Warning System reported that the city’s ventilation index (a measure of the atmosphere’s ability to disperse pollutants) remained below the positive level of 6,000 ms.

Weak winds below 10 km per hour and high humidity prevented pollutants from dispersing, causing the sky to become hazy.

At 7.30 am, IMD recorded visibility of 1,000 meters at Palam and 800 meters at Safdarjung, with both reporting calm winds.

Doctors at city hospitals say they are admitting an increasing number of patients complaining of cough, shortness of breath, chest tightness and nasal congestion.

Vice-chairman and head of pulmonology department of Max Super Specialty Hospital in Saket, Dr. According to Vivek Nangia, all patients who visited the facility on Thursday complained that their symptoms had worsened since Diwali.

“One thing we’ve clearly noticed is that whoever’s coming in now is saying their cough, shortness of breath, chest tightness and nasal congestion have gotten significantly worse since AQI levels rose,” he added.

Dr., a pediatrician at Madhukar Rainbow Children’s Hospital. “Many also deal with eye irritation, sore throat and sleep disorders due to poor air quality,” Medha said. he said.

Delhi’s maximum temperature reached 27 degrees Celsius, two notches below normal, while the minimum temperature was 20.1 degrees Celsius, four notches above the seasonal average. At 17.30, the humidity rate was recorded as 75 percent.

The meteorology has predicted shallow fog on Friday, while maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to hover around 30 and 18 degrees Celsius respectively.