Delhi AQI remains 'very poor' for half of Nov; no relief expected next week

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The national capital recorded an AQI of 369 on Friday, extending its streak of 'very poor' air quality to half the month of November, and forecasts show no respite in the next week.

The 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) settled at 369 on Friday, compared to 377 on Thursday, 327 on Wednesday, 352 on Tuesday and 382 on Monday, remaining in the 'very poor' category for the 14th consecutive day.

The highest AQI in the city, at 414, was recorded in Dwarka Sector 8, the Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB) Sameer app showed.

The air quality is likely to remain 'very poor' over the coming week, according to the forecast by the Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi.

Meanwhile, the Sameer app, which displays real-time pollution readings from monitoring stations across Delhi, showed that several stations -- including RK Puram, Punjabi Bagh, Nehru Nagar, Dwarka, Rohini, Jahangirpuri, and Mundka -- recorded AQI levels above the 400 mark.

Out of 39 monitoring stations, a total of 18 recorded AQI in the 'severe' category in the early hours of the day.

According to the CPCB, an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered 'good', 51100 'satisfactory', 101200 'moderate', 201300 'poor', 301400 'very poor', and 401500 'severe'.

The Decision Support System of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, estimated that vehicular emissions contributed 18 per cent to Delhi's pollution on Friday. The share for neighbouring Sonipat was 8.7 per cent, Karnal 3.9 per cent, and 6.9 per cent for Panipat.

For Delhi, stubble burning accounted for 1.2 per cent.

These contributions on Saturday are projected to reach 18.4 per cent for vehicular emissions and 1.7 per cent for stubble burning in the national capital.

Meanwhile, on the weather front, the city recorded a maximum temperature of 25.9 degrees Celsius, 0.1 notch below normal, while the minimum settled at 8.1 degrees Celsius, 2.2 notches below normal, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The relative humidity stood at 95 per cent in the morning and 67 per cent in the evening.

For Saturday, the IMD has forecast fog, with the maximum and minimum temperatures expected to settle around 26 and 11 degrees Celsius, respectively.