Delhi’s air quality deteriorates to ‘very poor’ zone; marginal rise in min temp

A 24-hour AQI of 305 (very poor) was recorded at 8am on Friday, compared to 234 (poor) at 4pm on Thursday, 271 (poor) on Wednesday, and 412 (severe) on Tuesday

After a brief respite, Delhi’s air quality deteriorated to the “very poor” category on Friday as wind speeds dipped again and also led to a marginal rise in the minimum temperature to 7.7°C. The mercury on Thursday dipped to 6.5°C and was likely to settle between 5-8°C until Monday, before another western disturbance was expected to influence the region and raise the minimum temperatures.

Strong winds up to 20 kilometres per hour helped improve Delhi’s AQI this week. (ANI)

Dense to very dense fog was also likely soon after, as wind speeds dip. A 24-hour average air quality Index (AQI) of 305 (very poor) was recorded at 8am on Friday, compared to 234 (poor) at 4pm on Thursday, 271 (poor) on Wednesday, and 412 (severe) on Tuesday. Strong winds up to 20 kilometres per hour helped improve Delhi’s AQI this week.

The Early Warning System for Delhi (EWS) said that the AQI was expected to improve during the day on Friday under sunny conditions, but likely to deteriorate to “very poor” again later in the day. Delhi’s air quality was likely to remain in the “poor category” until Saturday and “very poor” on Sunday and Monday. “The outlook for the subsequent six days from December 29 shows the air quality is likely to be in the ‘very poor’ category,” said the EWS forecast.