Even as airport officials and the Met department brainstormed over the weekend on whether the heavy smog that had settled over Delhi was due to the soot from the Jaipur IOC fire, Delhi pollution data accessed by Newsline before and after the fire, suggests the noxious haze was in the making much before the fire.

Levels of Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM) — very fine, ingestible particles in the air — crossed the danger mark in the middle of October. They were at double, even triple levels that of the general safe standard — 100 mg per metre cube. From about 170 mg/m3 on the October 17 (figures are for ITO), it jumped to 345 mg/m3 on October 18, hovering between 250-230 mg/m3 since.

Newsline had earlier reported that RSPM levels in Delhi are much higher than other Commonwealth countries, as per World Bank data. This may lead to health hazards for the Commonwealth Games athletes, as they may not be used to these conditions. “Further, athletes breathe longer and deeper than normal people, thereby ingesting more respirable particulate matter,” said Anumita Roychoudhary from the Centre of Science and Environment.

That is not all. Nitrogen Oxide (NO2) levels have also shot up, and experts fear that unchecked pollution in Delhi has negated the gains from CNG conversion. From 33 mg/m3 on October 14, which is within the safe standard of 80 mg/m3, (figures are for Siri Fort, one of the most uniformly residential and green areas in the city) the levels have jumped suddenly from the middle of October. On October 22, NO2 was as high as 139 mg/m3, and staying at a rough average of 120 mg/m3 till today.

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