Delhi Air Quality Remains ‘Very Poor’, Dips To ‘Severe’ In Noida

AQI in Noida was measured at 444 placing it in the ‘severe’ category. Dhirpur in Delhi also had ‘severe’ air quality with an AQI of 594 while Gurugram had ‘very poor’ air quality with 391 AQI. 

New Delhi: The air quality in the national capital continued to remain ‘very poor’ today as well as the Air Quality Index was measured at 385, reported news agency ANI. The residents in the city woke up to a smoggy morning lowering the visibility. The air quality in the adjoining cities of Noida and Gurugram also witnessed a dip in the air quality. 

This morning, the Air Quality Index in Noida was measured at 444 placing it in the ‘severe’ category. Dhirpur in Delhi also had ‘severe’ air quality with an AQI of 594 while in Gurugram the air quality was ‘very poor’ with an AQI of 391. 

A layer of eye-stinging smog shrouded the national capital on Monday as well as its air quality neared the 'severe' zone with stubble burning accounting for 22 per cent of the city's PM2.5 pollution. Delhi's 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 392 (very poor), worsening from 352 on Sunday. It was 354 on Thursday, 271 on Wednesday, 302 on Tuesday and 312 on Monday (Diwali).

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe".

Low wind speed allowed pollutants to accumulate in the air and the situation might deteriorate to "severe" on Tuesday morning, said Mahesh Palawat, vice president (meteorology and climate change), Skymet Weather.

The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) reported 2,131 farm fires in Punjab on Monday, the highest so far this season, 1,761 on Sunday, 1,898 on Saturday, 2,067 on Friday and 1,111 on Thursday.