Despite the ban on bursting of firecrackers during Diwali celebrations in Delhi, pollution levels were reported to be high. AQI (Air Quality Index) was recorded at 362 in Delhi on Friday.
Delhi witnessed the most polluted Diwali in the last three years. On Thursday, the day of Diwali, the 24-hour average AQI was recorded at 330. Which is higher than the average AQI of Diwali of the last three years.
The average AQI was recorded at 218 in Diwali 2023, 312 and 312 in Diwali 2022.
Today at 9 am, Delhi's AQI was recorded at 362, which falls in the worse category. The AQI recorded in 37 out of 39 monitoring stations in Delhi was in the worse category.
PM 2.5 was recorded at 207.8 micrograms per cubic meter at 6 am in Delhi. It is noteworthy that 60 micrograms per cubic meter of PM 2.5 is considered safe.
Apart from Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Haryana, Punjab also recorded very high pollution levels on Diwali.
More than 400 AKI cases were reported in Indore, Madhya Pradesh on Friday. PM 2.5 173 was recorded in Kolkata, West Bengal. AQI 344 was recorded at 9 am in Gurugram, Haryana. AQI 318 was recorded in Amritsar, Punjab.