Delhi air quality remains very poor with AQI at 348
Seven monitoring stations in the national capital recorded severe pollution levels on Saturday morning.
Delhi's air quality stayed in the very poor category on Saturday morning, with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) recording an overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of 348 at 7:05 am, according to ANI and The New Indian Express.
PM10 and PM2.5 were the primary pollutants across the city. Seven of the 59 monitoring stations reported severe pollution levels, including North Campus at 421, IIT Delhi at 419, ITO at 415, and Burari Crossing at 410.
Other areas in the very poor category included Chandni Chowk at 392, Jawaharlal Nehru University at 390, Anand Vihar at 379, and Chhawla at 352. The AQI at Connaught Place was 326, while Maidan Garhi recorded 300.
The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) had ordered GRAP 3 in the National Capital Region (NCR) on November 6. The Delhi government has been using water sprinklers to manage particulate matter, and Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said cloud seeding trials are being conducted under IIT Kanpur's supervision.
AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that the CPCB and the Delhi government are manipulating data. Citing a CREA report, Bharadwaj claimed actual pollution levels were 49 per cent higher than official website readings.
Bharadwaj further alleged that when pollution hits 999, the CPCB does not display the level and instead shows it as zero, which he described as a fraud against the residents of Delhi.