Delhi’s air quality remains in ‘severe’ category for second day

On Saturday morning, several areas in Delhi grappled with “severe” air quality, while the minimum temperature in the national capital settled at 16.6 degrees Celsius, slightly higher than the season’s average, according to officials.

At 9 am, Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at a concerning 407. Specific areas, such as the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range and Shadipur, registered alarming AQI levels at 453. Similarly, Anand Vihar recorded a reading of 448, Wazirpur at 442, Punjabi Bagh at 435, Bawana at 434, Okhla at 432, and R K Puram at 431, as reported by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

The situation was no better in other parts of the National Capital Region (NCR). Ghaziabad’s AQI was at 377, Greater Noida at a staggering 490, Faridabad at 449, and Gurugram at 392, as per the CPCB.

The AQI scale categorizes values from zero to 500, with 0-50 classified as “good”, 51-100 as “satisfactory”, 101-200 as “moderate”, 201-300 as “poor”, 301-400 as “very poor”, and 401-500 as “severe”.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted shallow fog throughout the day, with the maximum temperature expected to hover around 30 degrees Celsius. At 8:30 am, the humidity level was recorded at a high 88 percent. (With inputs from PTI)