As the city continued its bout with the toxic air, which maintained ‘severe’ level on Sunday, Delhiites spent another day gasping to breath with head heavy and eyes burning, coughing incessantly.
Smog-laden haze pervaded the city’s skyline throughout the day as usual with average Air Quality Index (AQI) being measured at 454, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
Neighbouring cities, including Gurugram, Noida, Greater Noida, Faridabad too recorded air quality under ‘severe’ mark while Ghaziabad and some other cities reeled under a very poor category of air.
A group of young visitors at Connaught Place told The Statesman that they were finding it hard to breathe in the polluted atmosphere so they have decided to go back home cancelling their Sunday shopping plans.
For some, especially the pedestrians who opted to go without a mask were seen coughing along the pavement.
Doctors have warned that over exposure to such levels of pollution poses grave health risks, especially for those suffering from heart and lung diseases, the elderly and children.
While the situation remained bad for normal people, it was a worrying factor for the elderly with a history of respiratory problems and heart ailments.
The highest AQI level was recorded at Dwarka sector 8 with the value of 483, followed by Bawana- 482 and Mundka with an AQI of 480, as per the pollution monitoring agency.
Prominent pollutants in Delhi’s air were PM 2.5 and PM 10, well above the safe limits.
The minimum temperature in the city was recorded at 15.8 C degrees, while relative humidity went up to 96 per cent, the weatherman said.
Meanwhile, the Delhi government decided to extend the closure of all primary schools till November 10, due to the alarming air pollution situation.
Despite being a Sunday, the authorities, especially traffic police, were seen enforcing the ban on plying of BS-3 petrol and BS-4 diesel vehicles under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) stage-III, by conducting checks at various points across the city and accordingly prosecuting the violators.
Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) teams were also on the ground implementing anti- pollution measures like spraying water on roads, operating anti- smog guns, conducting mechanical sweeping as a dust defying measure, especially at the hotspot areas shortlisted by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee.
The civic body is going hard against the polluters with heavy fines being imposed against pollution norm violations amid the ongoing situation.