Smog engulfs capital with ‘severe’ air quality

New Delhi: Denizensof New Delhi began another day with ‘severe’ levels of air pollution across the city on Saturday. The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) has forecast ‘very poor’ air quality for the next six days.

In an immediate step to mitigate the effects of polluted air, Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, on Friday, announced a revision of working hours across government offices and to reduce traffic congestion.

CM Atishi had announced that primary schools in the national capital will switch to online classes amid worsening air quality in the city.

“Due to rising pollution levels, all primary schools in Delhi will be shifting to online classes, until further directions,” the Chief Minister announced on X.

Haryana's Jind recorded its air quality index in the "severe" category while several other parts in the state and many places in Punjab witnessed air quality in the "very poor" and "poor" zones on Saturday.

Chandigarh saw some improvement in its air quality index (AQI) as it was registered at 298 at 10 am, according to the Central Pollution Control Board's Sameer app, which provides hourly updates.

For the past many days, the AQI of the Union Territory remained in the "severe" and "very poor" brackets.

Among many places in Haryana, the AQI was 410 in Jind, 392 in Bhiwani, 383 in Bahadurgarh, 357 in Panipat, 321 in Kaithal, 309 in Rohtak, 297 each in Charkhi Dadri and Gurugram, 289 in Kurukshetra, 285 in Karnal, 227 in Panchkula and 209 in Ambala.

In Punjab, Amritsar recorded its AQI at 332, Mandi Gobindgarh 233, Ludhiana 218, Khanna 181 and Rupnagar 155.

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", 401 and 450 "severe" and above 450 "severe plus".

Punjab on Friday saw 238 farm fire incidents, taking the total count to 7,864.