Delhi’s air remains ‘poor’ for fifth successive day as AQI crosses 280

There is no immediate relief in the next three days either, with the national Capital expected to see a dust storm late on Tuesday night

Delhi’s air quality remained ‘poor’ for a fifth consecutive day on Tuesday, as dry and dusty winds continued to impact the national Capital, leading to a spike in PM10 (particulate matter) concentration.

Delhi’s 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 280 (10am) on Tuesday. (HT photo)

Delhi’s 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 280 (10am) on Tuesday.

On Monday, the AQI recorded around 4pm hovered at 247, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed.

There is no immediate relief in the next three days either, with the national Capital expected to see a dust storm late on Tuesday night, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The data from CPCB’s Sameer app showed out of the 37 functional ambient air quality monitoring stations in Delhi, 12 of these were in the ‘very poor’ category – having an AQI over 300.

The worst was Shadipur, where the AQI was 389 at 10, edging closer to ‘severe’. This was followed by an average AQI of 364 at west Delhi’s Mundka. The lowest AQI at the same time was 144 (moderate) at Lodhi road.

The 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”.

With this, Delhi has already equalled the streak of five consecutive poor air days it saw last May – between May 10 and May 14.

“We are seeing dust-raising winds and dry weather, with clear skies. This is leading to a rise in temperature too. There is also 50% chance of a dust storm impacting Delhi NCR late on Tuesday night, with wind speeds touching 45km/hr,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at IMD.

Delhi had seen its cleanest April in the last six years, barring 2020 – a lockdown year, data shared by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in NCR had shown last week.

Delhi recorded only seven ‘poor’ air days during the entire month, the lowest in the last six years in the month of April. It has already recorded five poor days in the first week of May.