People living in the national capital faced breathing difficulties on Saturday due to the hazardous air as the city grappled with rising air pollution after the air quality here fell into the “poor” category. Delhi’s overall AQI clocked 278 on Saturday as per the 4PM AQI bulletin provided by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

It was a hazy morning in the city with a thin layer of smog engulfing it. 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”; and 401 and 500 “severe”. According to the CPCB, the AQI when marked under the ‘Poor’ category can cause breathing discomfort to most people on prolonged exposure, whereas, when under the ‘Very poor’ category can cause respiratory illness on prolonged exposure.

According to data from the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR)-India, the AQI in Anand Vihar at 5 pm was recorded in the ‘severe’ range and was 453. However, some places in the national capital continued to battle ‘very poor’ levels of air quality with AQI levels clocking over 300 at 5 pm on Saturday. According to SAFAR’s data , the AQI at Mundka area was 364, followed by 349 at Wazirpur, while the AQI at Bawana was 345.The AQI in Jahangirpuri was 337, in Dwarka it was 328 and in Narela it was 327.

Rahul, Babu and Pratap, who live in Delhi, shared their concern over the present air quality in Delhi, saying that pollution levels have significantly risen in recent days. They are experiencing breathing difficulties, eye irritation, and sore throat, prompting them to wear a mask while outdoors.”Pollution has made it extremely hard to breathe,” they said. The overall Air Quality Index in Delhi stood at 297 at 10 am, putting it under the ‘Poor’ category.

Meanwhile, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla reached Yamuna bank in Kalindi Kunj area in Delhi and slammed the Aam Aadmi Party alleging that it is the poisonous politics of former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal that has made the water and air in the national capital poisonous. He further challenged Kejriwal to come along with his party’s leaders and take a dip in the Yamuna River.

“The Yamuna water has turned into poison. Kejriwal claimed that he would clean Yamuna till 2025. They previously said 2020, then, they claimed 2025. Now if the situation is such before Chhath Puja, the women who will come here may have to suffer many a diseases. Yamuna has been polluted because the fund that was allocated for its cleaning has been spent by Arvind Kejriwal for advertisements and on himself,” the BJP national spokesperson charged.

In order to curb increasing pollution, the Delhi government on Tuesday implemented GRAP-1.Chief Minister Atishi and city Environment Minister Gopal Rai had a meeting with officials regarding the increasing pollution in the national capital. Later, it was told that 99 teams would inspect the construction sites to check dust pollution. As many as 200 anti-smog guns from PWD, 30 from MCD, 14 from the NCRTC and 80 from DMRC will also be deployed.

Apart from this, the Delhi government has urged Delhiites not to burn crackers, and if any pollution-causing activities are done anywhere, then they should inform on the Green Delhi app.