Delhi’s AQI rises to 187 amid dry weather

Delhi’s AQI rose to 187 on Sunday amid dry, slow winds and local emissions; air quality is forecast to turn poor from October 19 to 21.

New Delhi: Delhi’s air quality deteriorated on Sunday, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) reaching 187 at 4pm, up from 90 on Friday and 159 on Saturday.

Officials attributed the rise in pollution levels to a lack of rain, slow wind speeds and localised emissions. (Arvind Yadav/HT Photo)

The city had recorded the same AQI (187) on October 4. During the current season, Delhi saw an AQI higher than 187 earlier on July 13, when the AQI reached 246,according to the Central Pollution Control Board data.

Of the 58 active air quality monitoring stations in Delhi, 21 recorded air quality in the poor category. Officials attributed the rise in pollution levels to a lack of rain, slow wind speeds and localised emissions.

According to the CPCB standards, an AQI of 0-50 is considered ‘good’, 51 to 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 to 200 ‘moderate’, 201 to 300 ‘poor’, 301 to 400 ‘very poor’ and 401 to 500 ‘severe’.

Delhi recorded an AQI of 166 on Thursday, 174 on Friday and 171 on Saturday, with PM10 as the dominant pollutant. The AQI remained at the higher end of the ‘moderate category’. The Delhi cantonment area had recorded the lowest AQI in the city at 115.

The CPCB data shows that the ITO air quality monitoring station fared worst, with the AQI in the ‘severe’ category at 425, followed by Vivek Vihar station at 261, Siri Fort and Jahangirpuri stations at 257, JLN stadium at 246.

AQEWS bulletin said the air quality is likely to be in the ‘poor’ category from October 19 to 21.

According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 18.6 degrees Celsius and maximum temperature of 31.7 degrees Celsius on Sunday. The IMD has forecast similar weather conditions over the next few days, with minimum temperature hovering around 18-20 degrees Celsius.

Daytime temperature are expected to rise to 32-34 degrees Celsius between Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Delhi is likely to receive no rain over the next week with clear skies.