Fog blankets Delhi as air quality slips to 'very poor' again; AQI at 305

Delhi's air quality deteriorated a day after Christmas, with 24 out of 39 monitoring stations reporting very poor AQI as fog returned to the national capital

Delhi residents woke up to moderate fog on Friday, a day after Christmas, as air quality deteriorated and slipped back into the very poor category. The average Air Quality Index (AQI) for the city, as recorded by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) at 8 am, stood at 305. Anand Vihar recorded the worst air quality, with an AQI of 390.

 

This comes a day after the AQI had improved to the ‘poor’ category on Christmas, following nearly two weeks of ‘very poor’ and ‘severe’ levels.

 

Out of the 39 monitoring stations across the city, 24 recorded AQI levels in the very poor category, ranging between 300 and 400.

 

The areas with the worst air quality were:

• Ashok Vihar- 346
• Bawana- 379
• Chandni Chowk- 354
• DTU- 349
• ITO- 330
• Jahangirpuri- 390
• Narela- 356
• Nehru Nagar- 358
• Rohini- 353
• Vivek Vihar- 376
• Wazirpur- 355

Fourteen of the remaining stations recorded AQI in the ‘poor’ category. Lodhi Road recorded a ‘moderate’ AQI of 177, while data for Pusa was not available at the time of filing this report.

 

According to CPCB classification, an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51–100 ‘satisfactory’, 101–200 ‘moderate’, 201–300 ‘poor’, 301–400 ‘very poor’ and 401–500 ‘severe’.

 

According to official data, transport emissions and pollution from neighbouring cities continued to significantly add to Delhi’s pollution load.

 

While Stage IV restrictions have been revoked, measures under Stages I, II and III remain in force. Construction and demolition sites earlier shut for violations will not be allowed to resume operations without explicit approval from the Commission.

 

Delhi weather forecast

 

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast partly cloudy skies with shallow to moderate fog at a few places, particularly during morning hours.

 

The minimum temperature in the national capital is expected to remain between 6 and 8 degrees Celsius, while the maximum temperature is likely to range from 21 to 23 degrees Celsius.