Delhi’s air quality slips back to ‘very poor’, AQI at 310

Delhi’s air quality deteriorated to the ‘very poor’ category on Friday after showing marginal improvement over the past two days, with the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 310.Data from the Central Pollution Control Board showed that air quality was ‘very poor’ at least 24 monitoring stations across the city. Jahangirpuri and Anand Vihar recorded the highest AQI levels at 395 among the 40 stations monitored. In contrast, the Lodhi Road station reported ‘moderate’ air quality with an AQI of 185. Delhi had witnessed ‘poor’ air quality over the previous two days.
According to the Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS), air quality in the national capital is likely to remain in the ‘very poor’ category for the next six days, indicating no immediate relief for residents.The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said prevailing weather conditions remain unfavourable for the dispersion of pollutants, as average wind speeds are below 10 kmph. Low wind speed, coupled with winter conditions, continues to trap pollutants near the surface.As per the Central Pollution Control Board’s classification, an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51–100 ‘satisfactory’, 101–200 ‘moderate’, 201–300 ‘poor’, 301–400 ‘very poor’, and 401–500 ‘severe’.The IMD forecast maximum temperatures in Delhi on Friday to hover between 21 degrees Celsius and 23 degrees Celsius, while minimum temperatures are likely to remain in the range of 6 degrees Celsius to 8 degrees Celsius,according to information.