Delhi’s air quality remains in ‘very poor’ category, AQI rises from 90 to 301 in one week

The air quality in Delhi remained in the ‘very poor’ category for the third consecutive day with the city recording an overall air quality index (AQI) of 301, as per the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) on Sunday morning.

The air quality in the national capital was in the ‘satisfactory’ category continuously for three days from January 9 to January 11, while it slipped to the ‘moderate’ category on January 12. It has been in the ‘very poor’ category since January 14.

Meanwhile, with AQI at 309, the air quality in Noida is also in the ‘very poor’ category. However, the air quality in Gurugram is in ‘poor’ category with AQI at 204.

As per the government agencies, 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’.

Delhi’s AQI stood at 339 on January 15, remaining in the very poor category yesterday. As compared to Saturday, the air quality of Delhi has seen a slight improvement.

Meanwhile, the cold day conditions in Delhi prevailed on Sunday morning, with little to no sunlight due to the thick fog. The national capital recorded the season's lowest maximum temperature at 14.8 degrees Celsius this morning.

An IMD official said, “Today also there was a layer of moderate fog/low cloud over Delhi-NCR, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and north Rajasthan. It prevented the sunlight from reaching the surface. Light north westerlies are also blowing over the region. These conditions led to a cold day.”

The weather department recorded the minimum temperature at the Safdarjung Observatory, which is considered the official marker for the city, at 6.1 degrees Celsius in the morning, which is just a notch below the normal temperature.

(With ANI inputs)