Delhi air 'very poor' as centre, states hold emergency meeting on SC order

Toxic air shrouded Delhi and cities nearby on Monday as state governments meet later to consider ways to curb the pollution, scrambling after the Supreme Court recommended urgent restrictions on vehicle movement and industrial activities in and around the capital.

Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) was 331--'very poor'--at 8 am on Tuesday, according to the state-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR). Readings below 50 are considered safe, while anything above 300 is considered hazardous or 'severe'.

Delhi's AQI levels became worse after people violated a ban on bursting firecrackers on Diwali on November 4 while the pollution compounded due to an increase in stubble burning by farmers in areas adjoining Delhi.

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the central government to hold an emergency meeting with Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and decide on steps like stopping non-essential construction, transport, power plants and implementing work from home for office employees.

Delhi was the third most polluted city on the planet with an AQI of 195, said iQair, a website that tracks air pollution worldwide. Mumbai and Kolkata were other Indian cities on the website’s list of 10.

Air pollution costs Indian businesses $95 billion or roughly 3 per cent of its GDP every year, according to U.K.-based non-profit Clean Air Fund and the Confederation of Indian Industry, Bloomberg reported.