Delhi's Air Quality Drops To 'Severe' Category First Time This Season, To Remain 'Very Poor' For 3 Days

As per the pollution control panel, the 'severe' category affects healthy people and seriously impacts those with existing diseases.

At 5 pm, Delhi had an overall AQI of 357

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New Delhi: In the light of poor dispersion of pollutants due to weak winds, the air quality in New Delhi’s Anand Vihar was recorded in the ‘severe’ category on Friday. According to the latest forecast, the air quality will remain in the ‘very poor’ category over the next three days.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the last updated Air Quality Index (AQI) at Anand Vihar at 3pm on Friday was 455 which falls in the 'severe' category, and at 7am, the AQI in the area was 455 - the highest in the season.

As per the pollution control panel, the 'severe' category affects healthy people and seriously impacts those with existing diseases.

At 5 pm, Delhi had an overall AQI of 357, Ghaziabad 384, Noida 371, Greater Noida 364, and Faridabad 346.

According to experts, the worsening quality of air is because of the wind direction and wind speed, that is causing the accumulation of pollutants coupled with an increase in incidents of farm fires.

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

The air quality in the national capital deteriorated from 333 on Thursday to 346 at 9.30am on Friday, as per reports.

Among the monitoring stations that recorded "very poor" air quality were Wazirpur (380), Patparganj (363), Vivek Vihar (397), Punjabi Bagh (370) and Jahangirpuri (397).

It is to be noted that pollution around Diwali was the lowest in seven years, with the air quality in the national capital starting to deteriorate from October 24 with the AQI slipping from ‘poor’ to ‘very poor’.

Apart from Delhi, air quality index in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, among 34 Indian cities is currently in the 'very poor' category.