New Delhi: The air quality in Delhi worsened once again, slipping into the ‘severe’ category on Tuesday morning. At 9.36 am, the air quality index (AQI) was 414. The AQI at Bawana, Wazirpur, Anand Vihar and Rohini was 445, 442, 442 and 440 respectively.
According to the government air quality monitoring service SAFAR, the city’s air quality was in ‘very poor’ category on Monday which turned to severe by evening. The average AQI stood at 360 on Sunday.
In the National Capital Region (NCR), the AQI in Noida was 436, while Ghaziabad recorded an AQI of 445. Greater Noida, Gurgaon and Faridabad recorded AQI of 436, 365 and 404 respectively.
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On Monday, most of the 37 air quality monitoring stations in Delhi recorded air quality in the 'severe' category. An AQI between 0-50 is considered 'good', 51-100 'satisfactory', 101-200 'moderate', 201-300 'poor', 301-400 'very poor' and 401-500 'severe'. Above 500 falls in the 'severe plus' category.
With the winter setting in, a dip in the minimum temperature makes the air cold and heavy leading to accumulation of pollutants close to the ground.
According to Ikeda Lal, an opthalmologist at the Delhi Eye Centre and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in New Delhi, pollutants and dust in the air is one of the major reasons for causing eye allergy and other related problems.
“We are observing an increase in number of patients coming to us with complains of redness, itching, watering in the eyes. Patients with pre-existing dry eyes are experiencing exacerbation due to high pollution,” Lal told the press.
