Delhi Air Deteriorates To 'Very Poor' With AQI At 309, Predicted To Worsen Further

Delhi's air quality has deteriorated to 'very poor' after AQI dropped to 309. Weather monitoring agencies have said that due to prevailing weather conditions, the air quality may worsen further.

Delhi's air quality on Sunday morning dropped to 'very poor' category with the air quality index (AQI) at 309 worsening from 304 on Saturday and 261 (poor) on Friday. According to weather monitoring agencies, the air quality is likely to worsen further due to unfavourable meteorological conditions, reported PTI.

Apart from Delhi, the air quality in Noida is also in the 'Very Poor' category with an AQI of 372 whereas the AQI in Gurugram is 221 in the 'Poor' category, reported ANI citing the latest data from SAFAR-India.

According to PTI, the AQI in the national capital was 256 on Thursday, 243 on Wednesday and 220 on Tuesday. The air consistently remained in the 'Poor' category  for the entire week, before further worsening to 'Very Poor'. On Saturday, the AQI in Ghaziabad was 291, 272 in Faridabad, 252 in Gurugram, 284 in Noida and 346 in Greater Noida, the agency reported.

PTI stated citing the Centre's Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi, that the city's air quality went from 'poor' to 'very poor' due to slow wind speed at night and a dip in temperatures. The agency said that the air quality is expected to remain 'very poor' til the end of the month. With Diwali just two weeks away, the city administration is battling to contain the rising air pollution in Delhi-NCR.

On Saturday, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said the number of stubble-burning incidents in neighbouring states so far is lesser than last year. He added that the overall contribution of these fires to the city's air pollution is expected to reduce.

According to PTI, Rai told reporters that nearly 2,500 stubble-burning incidents have been recorded so far as compared to 5,000 such cases during the same period last year. As per the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Punjab reported 49,922 farm fires in 2022, compared to 71,304 the previous year and 83,002 in 2020. Notably, Punjab accounts for the maximum number of cases of stubble burning every year.