New Delhi: The national capital woke up to a thick blanket of smog on Thursday morning as the air quality plunged to the 'poor' category with an air quality index of 249 after a day's relief -- when the air quality was moderate on Wednesday.
The air pollution levels in Delhi came down to the 'moderate' category from 'poor', as the national capital recorded an AQI of 176 on Wednesday morning, as per System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research SAFAR.
The National Capital Region (NCR) also witnessed some improvement in air quality on Tuesday as Gurugram fell in the 'Moderate' category with an AQI of 162 and Delhi Airport (T3) recorded 'poor' quality air with an AQI of 218. However, Noida continued to breathe in 'very poor' quality air as the AQI of the city stood at 302.
An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor, and 401 and 500 'severe'.
According to Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) data, Punjab reported 1,358 farm fires on Wednesday as against just 141 on Tuesday. Delhi's air quality had improved significantly on Tuesday after Punjab reported 141 farm fires on Tuesday and just four on Monday.
The share of farm fires in Delhi's PM2.5 pollution stood at four per cent on Wednesday, according to SAFAR, a forecasting agency under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
According to PTI, after the air quality had improved, the Commission for Air Quality Management had on Monday directed authorities to revoke the curbs enforced in Delhi-NCR under stage three of the Graded Response Action Plan with immediate effect.
The curbs under stage 3 included a ban on construction and demolition activities, barring essential projects.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the city on Wednesday recorded a minimum temperature of 13.2 degrees Celsius and a maximum of 27.5 degrees Celsius, which was a notch below normal.
The temperatures are likely to drop by up to two degrees Celsius in the next three to four days, the IMD said.