Delhi on Sunday recorded season's worst air quality at 381 which falls under the category of 'very poor'.
The Air Quality Index recorded the highest level of pollution of the season which just points below 'severe' when thick haze enveloped the national capital's air.
An AQI between 0 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".
Twelve pollution monitoring stations located in various parts of Delhi recorded severe air quality while 20 stations recorded very poor air quality, according to data by the Central Pollution Control Board.
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Authorities attribute the dip in air quality to localised factors like construction dust, vehicular pollution as well as regional factors like pollution due stubble burning from Punjab and Haryana.
The Central Pollution Control Board advised to avoid outdoor exercises and use of private vehicles in Delhi-NCR during the first 10 days of November as the air quality is likely to deteriorate further owing to localised emissions around festivals and stubble burning in neighbouring states.
CPCB also recommended closure of all construction activities that generate dust pollution between November 1 and 10.
To control the rising level of air pollution in Delhi, Union Environment minister Harsh Vardhan on Saturday said that the companies not complying with antiu-pollution guidelines will soon be prosecuted under criminal charges.
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A study reports PM 2.5-related long-term mortality for the year 2016 in 13 megacities of China, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan using an integrated exposure risk (IER) model.
In Indian megacities, the premature deaths were 14,800, 10,500, 7,300, 4,800 and 4,800 in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai respectively.
(With inputs from PTI)
