With no respite from hazardous air on Tuesday, residents of the national capital continued to gasp for breath. The average air quality index in the city was pegged at 460, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

The toxic air was no different from that of Monday when the AQI remained under the ‘severe plus’ category with a reading above 450.

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According to the CPCB’s readings at 4 pm in the evening, the AQI at 25 places in the city was pegged at 450 and above. However, compared to Monday, there was no place in Delhi on Tuesday that recorded a pollution index value of 500.

Alipur-483, Anand Vihar-479, Sonia Vihar-479, Mundka-476, Dilshad Garden-476, Bawana-475, Jahangipuri-475, and Vivek Vihar-475 were among the areas in the city that recorded the worst AQI levels.

Most of the people, who ventured out of their homes on Tuesday, were seen wearing masks reminiscent of the COVID pandemic. Some were seen distributing masks as a humanitarian gesture amid heightened levels of air pollution.

Many complained of coughing due to the harsh feeling experienced while breathing in the hazardous air, especially at busy intersections.

Meanwhile, an AIIMS doctor advised the residents to maintain optimum levels of vitamin D amid the high smog levels.

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said the state government was doing everything it can to curb the pollution levels. Various measures are underway to defuse several sources of pollution within the city.

Rai, however, emphasised the need for the implementation of emergency measures such as cloud seeding for artificial rain, as he claimed, giving reference to suggestions by experts that the thick layer of smog has caught hold of the pollutants such as PM 2.5 and PM 10, not allowing them to disperse, can only be broken by inducing rain.

On the other hand, the Commission for Air Quality Management’s anti-pollution Graded Action Response Plan’s stage-IV measures are being strictly implemented across the city to mitigate the soaring pollution levels. However, all this made little difference as the pollution levels were recorded at 494 with a slight drop of 34 points from that of Tuesday.

According to the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology’s (IITM) Air Quality and Weather Bulletin for Delhi, the air quality is likely to remain in the ‘severe’ category on Wednesday.