Delhi air quality deteriorates, AQI remains in 'poor' category
The AQI was recorded the highest in Chandni Chowk at 330.
The air pollution level in the national capital and areas around it deteriorated slightly on Thursday morning with the Air Quality Index (AQI) reaching the mid of the 'poor' category. In the morning, the AQI in Delhi docked at 245, according to the Center-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).
The AQI was recorded the highest in Chandni Chowk at 330, followed by Dhirpur at 303, Mathura Road at 279, IIT Delhi at 266, Delhi University at 248, Airport (T3) at 238, Ayanagar at 211, Lodhi Road at 210, and Pusa at 190. The AQI in Noida stood at 323 and Gurugram at 303.
An AQI between 0-50 is considered `good`, 51-100 `satisfactory`, 101-200 `moderate`, 201-300 `poor`, 301-400 `very poor` and 401-500 is marked as `severe`. An AQI above 500 falls in the `severe plus` category. During winter each year, most of northern India suffers from a spike in toxicity in the air due to the change in weather patterns and crop residue burning in the neighbouring states of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
The temperature at 5.30 am in Delhi was 9.5 degrees Celsius and the visibility was 1000 metres. Under the influence of approaching Western disturbance, increased wind speed and fairly widespread precipitation are expected in the Delhi region. SAFAR model had suggested improvement in AQI towards moderate category on Tuesday. Air Quality Index may deteriorate slightly on January 17 (Friday) but will remain within the upper end of moderate to poor category.
