Uttar Pradesh: People suffer as Kanpur chokes on smog

Visuals from various locations across Kanpur showed a thick layer of smog surrounding parts of the city with the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) at 166, which falls in the 'moderate' category.

"We suffer through coughs. We face issues in breathing due to pollution", said Vijay, a local resident, while speaking to ANI.

Another local, Anil Vajpayee, said that the government should take steps towards it.

"Now that the winters are around the corner, the pollution is also on the rise. We suffer from irritation in our eyes while driving", Vajpayee said.

Meanwhile, the national capital is also grappling with pollution as the AQI slipped into the 'very poor' category, as per SAFAR India.

Air quality in Delhi deteriorated from poor to the 'very poor' category, with the Air Quality Index at 302 on Sunday afternoon, as per SAFAR-India.

The Air Quality Index is a tool for effective communication of air quality status to people in terms that are easy to understand. There are six AQI categories, namely Good + Satisfactory, Moderately Polluted, Poor, Very Poor, and Severe.

Each of these categories is decided based on the ambient concentration values of air pollutants and their likely health impacts (known as health breakpoints).

According to the AQI scale, the air quality check between 0 and 50 is "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 450 "severe".

Meanwhile, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Monday said that the next two weeks were crucial for the city that has put into force phase two of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to tackle "very poor" air quality.

Rai chaired a meeting at the Delhi Secretariat to take stock of the deteriorating air quality in Delhi-NCR and said special teams will be deputed to identify and inspect local sources of pollution.

"The next 10-15 days are crucial and we are trying to do better than previous times," Rai told ANI. (ANI)