Delhi’s air quality remains in severe category; AQI reaches 459

On Thursday, the overall air quality index (AQI) in Delhi touched 429, in the severe zone, according to the Central Pollution Control Board

Delhi’s air quality continued to remain in the severe category at 7am on Friday, with the hourly average air quality index clocking 459.

Fog and humidity would lead to smog in Delhi. The coming week could be the “first extended extreme air pollution event for 2021” in Delhi, according to Safar. (File photo)

On Thursday, the overall air quality index (AQI) in Delhi touched 429, in the severe zone, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). A day before that, the 24-hour average AQI was 354, in the very poor category.

IMD scientists said the air quality in Delhi is also expected to get worse till January 18.

Union ministry of earth science’s air quality monitoring centre, System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (Safar), warned that the coming week could be the “first extended extreme air pollution event for 2021”.

“The AQI is forecast to deteriorate rapidly in next three days. The combination of dense fog formation leading to secondary particulate formation under congenial conditions of high humidity, extremely low ventilation and shallow boundary layer height is a major reason for the predicted smog episode in the coming days,” the Safar forecast read.