With mercury in the National Capital Region (NCR) rising earlier than usual this year and roads choking with vehicles, the level of ground-level ozone, a highly reactive gas that can be particularly dangerous to those suffering from asthma and respiratory conditions, is on the rise and has already breached permissible standards at several spots across the city, data from Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) shows.
The gas is formed as a result of a mixture of heat and gases such as oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds, largely occurring during the day in areas where there is traffic congestion or the presence of several industries.
According to DPCC data for the last week of April (April 24-30), temperatures shot up to 43-47°C in parts of Delhi (against a normal average of around 38°C during the period), with locations such as Jawahar Lal Nehru (JLN) Stadium, Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, Nehru Nagar, Mandir Marg, RK Puram and Narela all breaching the eight-hour ozone limit of 100 micrograms per cubic metre six out of the seven days. At Mundka, a busy industrial area, it breached the eight-hour limit on five of the seven days, while at Aurobindo Marg, where traffic congestion is an issue, it failed to meet the standards on three of the seven days.
