Air pollution in Delhi was measured to be worse than that of Singapore on Wednesday.

According to bloomberg.com, the levels of particulate matter (PM)2.5 calibrated near the Parliament in New Delhi were 27 times the safety limit. A reading of 675 micrograms per cubic meter of air was measured at the capital.

The World Health Organisation's (WHO), the 24-hour mean guideline for PM2.5 is a fraction of reading taken at the New Delhi. Singapore had reached a reading of 471 micrograms per cubic metre of air after the Indonesia plantation fires.

The new reading in New Delhi lead to the US embassy terming the city's air as hazardous. It advised its citizens to refrain from doing any physical activity, especially to vulnerable citizens and children.

After farmers in Punjab burnt their crops, they added to the existing pollution from industries and vehicles, the toxic levels increased tremendously. The city too has poor monitoring means to check emissions.

With Diwali set to be celebrated tomorrow, the air pollution levels will only get worse leading to serious health hazards.

According to bloomberg.com, quoting figures from Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Germany 650,000 lives succumb to illnessed led due to air pollution annually in India

Related read - Don't convert Diwali into a 'festival of smoke': Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

The acute problem of air pollution which the city is struggling with may assume "dangerous proportions" during Diwali, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday urging people not to convert the festival of lights into a "festival of smoke". In a pre-Diwali message released through newspaper advertisements, Kejriwal advised people against bursting of fireworks and crackers. "On this occasion of happiness, I want to make an appeal. Our Delhi is struggling with an acute problem of air pollution, which assumes dangerous proportions on Diwali due to bursting of fireworks and crackers," Kejriwal said.

Noting the possible adverse effects of smoke emanating from firecrackers on children and the elderly, the Chief Minister appealed to people to keep these issues in mind and refrain from setting of crackers. "Let us not convert the festival of lights into festival of smokes," he said.