Expressing hope of an improvement in the situation arising from air pollution in the national capital, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai declared here on Sunday that the city air has come out of the ‘severe’ category and with the wind speed and could make things better as predicted.

With the increase in wind speed and if the light rain takes place as predicted, the air quality will improve in the coming days, the minister said while speaking to a news agency over Delhi’s air pollution situation.

He said there was an increase in the pollution levels during the past two to three days, which was not due to the stubble burning incidents that have reportedly reduced to a handful, and, further pointed towards the local sources responsible for contributing towards the situation, especially biomass burning.

He further said that the pollution was coming towards Delhi from NCR regions at present.

Rai called for strict monitoring of the implementation of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) stage- III in the NCR region the way it has been enforced in Delhi. Highlighting the possibility of changes in weather, he said it is expected that the same will help improve the air pollution situation.

Meanwhile, the minister also said that anti- pollution plans are being strictly implemented in Delhi under the GRAP stage- III in view of curbing local sources of pollution. However, Delhi’s average Air Quality Index (AQI) on Sunday was 396, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), and was in the ‘very poor’ category.

The data released by the pollution control body was based on readings taken by 38 out of 40 monitoring stations across the national capital, CPCB said.

Highest AQI level was recorded at Wazirpur area with a reading of 464, followed by Jahangirpuri- 457 and Vivek Vihar- 455.

Cities adjoining Delhi to the likes of Faridabad, Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Noida and Greater Noida also recorded ‘very poor’ levels of the air qualoity index on Sunday.

Meanwhile, a fresh report by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has said that ongoing air pollution in Delhi-NCR is being further worsened by the intransigence of thermal power plants, most of which are not complying with emission control norms.