Delhi records season’s coldest morning at 7.1 deg C

Delhi: The national capital on Saturday recorded its coldest morning of the season with a minimum temperature of 7.1 degrees Celsius, three notches below the season’s average, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

After three days of ‘moderate’ air quality, Delhi’s air quality once again worsened to enter the ‘poor’ category.

The city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 222 around 9 am, according to Central Pollution Control Board data.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.

The humidity levels in the city were 89 per cent at 8.30 am, according to the IMD.

The weather department has forecast mainly clear skies during the day. The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 25 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, on Friday, Delhiites woke up to cleaner skies for the third consecutive day as the city’s air quality remained in the ‘moderate’ category.

At 9 am, Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 187, slightly higher than Thursday morning’s reading of 161, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data.

Out of the 38 monitoring stations that recorded air quality data, 14 reported levels in the ‘poor’ category, while the rest remained in the ‘moderate’ category, as per CPCB data.

Delhi recorded its coldest night of the season on Wednesday, with the temperature dropping to 8.5 degrees Celsius, marking Thursday as the coldest day so far.

The IMD has forecast mainly shallow fog for the day, with the maximum temperature expected to hover around 27 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, on Friday, Supreme Court allowed the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to relax the stringent GRAP-4 (Graded Response Action Plan) curbs to stage 2 to deal with air pollution in the national capital region in view of improvement in the AQI levels.

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A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih suggested the CAQM to include some additional measures of GRAP-3 in stage-2 curbs.