New Delhi’s air quality improves to ‘very poor’ from ‘severe’; mild fog likely

New Delhi’s air quality improved marginally on Wednesday morning with the air quality index (AQI) hovering in the “very poor” category as the Capital continued to be affected by stubble burning in neighbouring Haryana and Punjab.

The hourly air quality index (AQI) for New Delhi at 7am was 383, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

On Tuesday, the average 24-hour AQI was 404, which was in the “severe” category.

The AQI was above 400 for three consecutive days following Diwali last Thursday as emissions from fireworks and smoke from paddy stubble burning combined to form a toxic haze that has persisted since.

The CPCB classifies an AQI of zero to 50 as “good”, 51-100 as “satisfactory”, 101-200 as “moderate”, 201-300 as “poor”, 301-400 as “very poor” and above 401 as “severe”.

On Tuesday, the union ministry of earth sciences’ air quality monitoring centre, System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), said the AQI was likely to improve but still remain in the “very poor” category due to the added impact of partially cloudy conditions.

On the weather front, New Delhi was likely to witness mild fog on Wednesday morning as per the Indian Meteorological Department’s (IMD) forecast.

The minimum temperature on Wednesday was likely to be 13 degrees Celsius, while the maximum temperature was expected to go up to 29 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature on Tuesday was 13.5 degrees Celsius and the maximum temperature was 28.6 degrees Celsius.

As per the IMD forecast, the minimum temperature could drop to 10 degrees Celsius by November 15 as cold northwesterly winds continue to blow.