NEW DELHI, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- The air pollution level in Indian capital city New Delhi Tuesday became severe on Tuesday, officials said.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the overall air quality index (AQI) remained in severe category at 416.
"The AQI in Delhi at 10:00 a.m. (local time) today was recorded at 416," data released by CPCB said. "The air quality is severe and prominent pollutants are PM 2.5 and PM 10."
Health officials said severe air pollution affects healthy people and seriously impacts people suffering from diseases.
As per CPCB, AQI between 0 - 50 is considered "good", between 51-100 "satisfactory", 101-200 "moderate", 201-300 "poor", 301-400 "very poor", 401-500 "severe" and beyond 500 is severe plus emergency.
For the past few weeks, a thick blanket of smog engulfed the city and outskirts when people have complained of difficulty in breathing and itching in the eyes.
Air pollution continues to worsen in New Delhi and gets aggravated during winter months. Officials attribute it to burning of stubble in agricultural farms in neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana.
The burning of agricultural waste to clear cropland also contributed to the choking of already polluted air, according to the experts.
The government, in order to bring down the level of pollution, has put in force car rationing scheme in the city.
Under the arrangement known as "Odd-Even" traffic formula, private cars with odd registration numbers are allowed to run on odd dates while even-numbered cars would ply on even dates.
