By Neha Arora and Mayank Bhardwaj

NEW DELHI (Reuters – New Delhi saw its air quality drop again last Friday. The city was surrounded by toxic smog because of a decrease in wind speed and temperature, as well as an increase in burning of crop residue in neighboring farms.

According to federal pollution control board, the haze affected visibility. The Air Quality Index (AQI), measured on a 500-point scale, was 461. The air quality is so bad that it will negatively impact people with chronic diseases and those who are healthy.

Average concentrations of toxic PM2.5 particulate matter in air were 329 micrograms/cm2. For a 24-hour period, the government recommends that PM2.5 levels be at least 60 micrograms in cubic meters of air.

PM2.5 can travel small enough that it enters the bloodstream, deepening the lungs and causing severe respiratory conditions, such as lung cancer.

Gufran Beig is the founder of SAFAR (the Ministry of Earth Science) and was designated project director for air quality monitoring.

Beig stated to Reuters that fire counts were in the range of 3,000-55,000 and are not decreasing. He was referring specifically to the crop stubble fires occurring in areas around the capital.

He stated that the severe weather conditions currently in effect may improve on Saturday, however air quality will still be “very poor” through Nov. 17.

Beig stated that air quality could be worsened if there are more farm fires. The SAFAR model predicts mild winds and suggests this might increase the risk.

India has not made significant efforts to curb crop-waste burning which is a main source of winter pollution. However, it spent billions of rupees in the last four years to try to prevent a rapid decline in air quality.

Delhi, which is frequently ranked as the worst-polluted capital of the world, has extremely polluted winters due to emissions from transportation, crop stubble, and coal-fired power plants.

Delhi saw the most severe air pollution of this year on Nov. 5th, a day after Diwali revellers set firecrackers on the streets. AQI was at 463.

According to the Centre for Science and Environment, more than half (50%) of Delhi’s particulate emissions were due to vehicular emission between October 24 and November 8, according its Thursday report.