At 365, Delhi’s air quality still in ‘very poor’ zone

The overall AQI of Delhi on Friday was 374, also in the same category. This was better than Thursday’s 395.

Delhi’s air marginally improved on Saturday as winds picked up speed and the contribution of stubble fires from the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana remained relatively low.

A man wearing a facemask rides his bicycle along a street amid smoggy condition in New Delhi on October 30. (AFP)

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data shows that the hourly average air quality index of Delhi at 7am was 365, in the “very poor” category.

The overall AQI of Delhi on Friday was 374, also in the same category. This was better than Thursday’s 395. At many monitoring stations, the AQI had entered the severe category on Thursday afternoon.

An AQI reading of 301 to 400 is in the “very poor” category and is associated with respiratory illnesses, especially in children and those exposed to the bad air. An AQI of 400-500 is considered “severe”.

IMD scientists said that strong winds helped clear off the accumulated pollutants and that winds are expected to be favourable over the weekend.

Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’s regional weather forecasting centre, said that the wind speed on Friday remained in the range of 12-15kmph, which helped disperse pollutants.

“For a brief period, the wind speed had even touched 16kmph. On Saturday, the winds will pick up more and we are expecting that the air quality index can even reach the poor zone,” Srivastava said.

He said that on Sunday too, weather conditions will remain favourable.