Gurugram logs October’s worst air quality despite drizzle

Meanwhile, the city experienced a sharp drop in daytime temperatures amid cloudy skies and light rainfall

Gurugram recorded its worst air quality this October on Thursday, with the air quality index (AQI) rising to 242, in the ‘poor’ category, despite light rainfall and a cool breeze across the city.

Commuters make their way through a drizzle and thick smog in Gurugram on Thursday. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

According to data available on the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) Sameer app, the city’s AQI deteriorated from 203 (poor) on Wednesday and 174 (moderate) on Tuesday.

Among the monitoring stations, Sector 51 recorded the highest AQI of 275 on Thursday, followed by Gwal Pahari at 237 and TERI Gram at 214, all in the ‘poor’ category.

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

Meanwhile, the city experienced a sharp drop in daytime temperatures amid cloudy skies and light rainfall.

According to the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) daily weather observations, Gurugram recorded a maximum temperature of 25.5°C on Thursday, a decline of 4.4°C from Wednesday. The minimum temperature stood at 15.1°C.

Gurugram received 0.5mm of rainfall between 8.30am and 5.30pm on Thursday, according to the IMD bulletin.

Several other parts of Haryana received more substantial rainfall during the day. Bawal in Rewari district recorded 23mm, the highest among the listed weather stations, followed by Ujha in Panipat district at 22mm.

The IMD has forecast scattered showers across Haryana on Friday, indicating that unsettled weather conditions could continue in parts of the state.