Clear sky in Delhi on Thursday, air quality moderate

Delhi’s air quality was in the moderate category on Thursday morning. Data from the Central Pollution Control Board showed that the hourly air quality index (AQI) at 7 am stood at 116

Delhi is likely to see clear sky on Thursday with the minimum temperature likely to be at 24 degrees Celsius and the maximum temperature reaching 35 degrees Celsius, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasted.

Clear skies at Vijay Chowk near Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi as Monsoon begins to recede (Arvind Yadav/HT PHOTO)

The maximum temperature on Wednesday was 34.9 degrees Celsius, a notch above normal, and the minimum was 23.8 degrees Celsius.

Delhi’s air quality was in the moderate category on Thursday morning. Data from the Central Pollution Control Board showed that the hourly air quality index (AQI) at 7 am stood at 116. On Wednesday, the average 24-hour AQI was 114.

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’.

On Wednesday, the Union ministry of earth science’s air quality monitoring centre, System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (Safar), said, “Delhi’s AQI is in the moderate category with PM10 as main pollutant because of dry air coming from north-west of India along with local pollution. With presence of high pressure over northwest India, AQI will degrade to be in moderate for the next 3 days.”