Delhi’s air quality remains ‘very poor’

On Friday, at least 12 of 35 monitoring stations in Delhi recorded ‘severe’ air

Delhi’s air quality continued to remain in the ‘very poor’ category on Saturday morning, just a little better than Friday’s.

Delhi’s overall AQI reading on Friday was 366 (in the ‘very poor’ zone), the worst in at least eight months, and a marked deterioration from Thursday’s 296, which was in the ‘poor’ zone, according to Central Pollution Control Board. (Amal KS/HT Photo)

On Saturday morning, Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) reading was 348.

Delhi’s overall AQI reading on Friday was 366 (in the ‘very poor’ zone), the worst in at least eight months, and a marked deterioration from Thursday’s 296, which was in the ‘poor’ zone, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). An AQI reading of 201 to 300 is considered ‘poor’. A reading of 301 to 400 is in the ‘very poor’ category, and such bad air could lead to respiratory illnesses, especially in children.

On Friday, at least 12 of 35 monitoring stations in Delhi recorded ‘severe’ air (401-500). Friday was the second time this year that the national Capital’s air quality deteriorated so much— in January 22, Delhi’s AQI reading was 370.

Experts said that the air might turn dirtier in the national Capital over the weekend, before improving marginally from October 26. The city’s air quality will start deteriorating again on October 29, according to an India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast.

“The wind speed will remain low till October 25, after which we expect a slight improvement. But with the temperatures also falling, the pollution levels could spike again from October 29,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’s regional weather forecasting centre.