Delhi: Air quality remains ‘very poor’, AQI crosses 400 in some areas

Delhi: The national capital’s air quality remained in the ‘very poor’ range on Friday morning, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) hitting 387, and over 15 monitoring stations reporting air levels in the most critical category.

According to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the AQI stood at 387 at 9 am.

On Thursday, the 24-hour average AQI, recorded until 4 pm, was 367.

The CPCB‘s Sameer app, which provides hourly AQI updates, showed that out of 38 monitoring stations, 18 were in the ‘severe’ category, with readings exceeding 400.

These stations included areas in Delhi such as Anand Vihar, Wazirpur, Rohini, Punjabi Bagh, Nehru Marg, Mundka, Jahangirpuri, Ashok Vihar, Bawana, DTU, Narela, Nehru Nagar, Moti Bagh, Patparganj, RK Puram, Sonia Vihar, Sirifort, and Vivek Vihar.

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According to AQI standards, a reading between 0-50 is categorised as ‘good,’ 51-100 as ‘satisfactory,’ 101-200 as ‘moderate,’ 201-300 as ‘poor,’ 301-400 as ‘very poor,’ and 401-500 as ‘severe’.

Meanwhile, a thick layer of morning mist and smog covered the city, with the minimum temperature dropping to 18.1 degrees Celsius, which is 3.8 degrees above normal.

Humidity was at 96 per cent at 8:30 am, as per the India Meteorological Department.

The weather forecast predicts mainly clear skies for the day, with the maximum temperature likely to reach around 32 degrees Celsius.

(With inputs from PTI)