Delhi’s air ‘poor’ for fourth day in a row, likely to improve

Sunday's AQI stood at 233, possibly returning to "moderate" on Monday with rain, but expect a shift back to "poor" air quality by Wednesday.

Delhi’s air quality continued to remain in the “poor” category for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday, met department officials said, adding that there might be an improvement in the days to come due to favourable weather conditions.

Smog near the India Gate lawns in New Delhi on Sunday. (Arvind Yadav/HT)

On Sunday, the air quality index (AQI) in the city was recorded at 233 — in the “poor” category — a marginal improvement from a day before when it was recorded at 257. It could further improve on Monday and return to the “moderate” category owing to light rain, officials of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. Officials said that a western disturbance could impact the region in the coming days which could cause rain on Monday and Tuesday.

To be sure, the Centre Pollution Control Board (CPCB) classifies an AQI between 0-50 as “good”, between 51 and 100 as “satisfactory”, between 101 and 200 as “moderate”, between 201 and 300 as “poor”, between 301 and 400 as “very poor”, and over 400 as “severe”.

“Light showers are expected across NCR on Monday, while a drizzle is possible on Sunday and Tuesday,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at IMD.

According to forecast by the Early Warning System (EWS) for Delhi – a forecasting model under the ministry of earth sciences — AQI could return to “poor” once again by Wednesday. “Air quality is likely to remain in the poor category for the next six days thereafter,” said the EWS daily bulletin.

Meanwhile, the western disturbance has brought cloudiness over Delhi NCR, raising night temperatures once again. Delhi’s minimum temperature was recorded at 21.6 degrees Celsius (°C) on Sunday. In comparison, it was 21.4°C on Saturday and 19.8°C on Friday. Officials said that cold northwesterly winds bring down the minimum temperature to 18°C on Thursday.