Delhi's air quality slips to 'very poor' category

The air quality Index (AQI) on Tuesday was recorded at 282 which was in the poor category.

According to the SAFAR bulletin, from Nov 27 onwards local surface winds are likely to increase which will result in improvement of air quality.

“The effective farm fire count has reduced to 770 and its contribution to Delhi’s PM2.5 on Wednesday is 3 percent as per the agency," said the agency.

The concentrations of PM 2.5 and PM 10 stood at 156 in the 'very poor' and 292 in the 'poor' category respectively around 11 am, as per the agency.

Several areas in the national capital including ITO, Lodhi Road, and Mathura Road recorded air quality in "very poor" air with an AQI of 333, 303, and 346 while the AQI at Anand Vihar and Jahangirpuri were in the "severe" category with an AQI 422 and 436 respectively.

According to data from the Central Pollution Control Board the Air Quality Index in the neighboring parts of Delhi, also recorded their air quality in the 'very poor' category Faridabad ( at 322 ), Ghaziabad (352), Gurugram (377) and Noida (393) . 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.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government on Monday lifted the ban on construction activities after the marginal improvement in the national capital’s air quality but schools will remain shut till further orders.

Earlier on its Sunday order, the Delhi government extended the ban on the entry of trucks carrying non-essential commodities into the city and work from home for its employees until Nov 26.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) the sky will remain clear with the minimum and maximum temperature likely to hover around 9 and 27 degree Celsius respectively.

“The relative humidity at 8:30 am stood at 95 percent,” IMD said.