Delhi Pollution: AQI improves slightly, min temp 18.2 deg C

Delhi’s air quality improved slightly on Wednesday morning but remained in the “poor” category with an overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of 273, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

On Tuesday, the city recorded an AQI of 294 at 4 pm, a marginal drop from Monday’s reading of 301, which fell under the “very poor” category.

Despite the overall improvement, 11 out of Delhi’s 38 monitoring stations continued to record AQI in “very poor” range with reading above 300, data from the CPCB’s Sameer app showed.

According to the CPCB, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 to 100 “satisfactory”, 101 to 200 “moderate”, 201 to 300 “poor”, 301 to 400 “very poor” and 401 to 500 “severe”.

Meanwhile, the minimum temperature in the national capital settled at 18.2 degrees Celsius, 2.1 notches above normal, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 28 degrees Celsius, the IMD has it forecasted shallow fog in the city on Wednesday.

The relative humidity was 89 per cent at 8.30 am, it said.

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A quiet revolution is unfolding in Mehrauli

Tucked near the centuries-old Jahaz Mahal and Shamsi Talaab, the Mehrauli Community Library (MCL) is a quiet revolution in its own right — a place where anyone, regardless of background, can read, learn, and grow. Opened in April 2022, just as Delhi’s schools reopened after the prolonged pandemic closure, MCL is part of the Free Libraries Network, a movement inspired by The Community Library Project, an anti-caste initiative that promotes free, public access to books and learning.

The idea takes root

“I had been working for years with social purpose organisations, focusing on skill development and worker entitlements,” says Orlanda Ruthven, co-founder of MCL. “But when COVID hit, everything stopped. Suddenly, we were all looking at our neighbourhood differently — confined, yet noticing things we had never seen before.”

During her walks through Mehrauli’s Archaeological Park, Ruthven came across children from the nearby Gosia Colony, left adrift by the digital divide. “I saw the difference between my daughters, who were attending online classes for hours, and these government school children, who had lost months of learning,” she recalls. “That disparity really struck me.”