On Wednesday morning, Delhi woke up to very bad air quality, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) hitting over 440, which is known as the ‘severe’ category. Some areas even reported AQI levels above 480, showing the air is extremely unhealthy. The pollution levels made officials enforce strict rules under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), which aims to reduce pollution.
Many places in Delhi had a really high AQI, including Nehru Nagar at 480, Anand Vihar at 481, and Alipur at 471. The AQI helps us understand air quality, where numbers from 0 to 50 are “good,” and anything above 450 is considered “severe plus.”
Because of this bad air, authorities have put in place Stage 4 of GRAP, which means that construction activities are banned, and trucks carrying non-essential items cannot enter the city. Offices must have only half of their workers in the office, while others work from home.
These actions are taken to help improve air quality, especially during the winter when pollution levels are often higher due to weather conditions and other sources, like cars, burning trash, and firecrackers. If this pollution continues, doctors warn that breathing the air in Delhi might be like smoking 10 cigarettes a day!
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