The air quality in the National Capital continued to remain in the ”severe” category for the third consecutive day on Saturday even though a slight improvement was noted in the Air Quality Index (AQI) of the city, which stood at 431 this morning.

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”.

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The AQI, on Friday night, deteriorated to 437 from Thursday’s 418, the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) said.

Meanwhile, the air quality in Delhi’s adjoining cities of Noida and Gurugram was recorded at 529 and 478, both under the “severe” category.

People of Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) complained of choking and ‘eye burning’ due to smog and air pollution leaving people gasping for breath.

Earlier on Friday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal along with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann held a press conference and urged the central government to come forward and lead measures to check severe smog in the national capital region.

Kejriwal and Mann said the AAP governments are in Punjab and Delhi. This is not the time to raise fingers or abuse each other. If they say, Kejriwal is responsible and we say they are responsible, this will not solve the problem of smog in NCR, they added.

“We do not want to play blame game, we are responsible (for smog in NCR)”, they added.

In the wake of the continued air pollution, Delhi announced the closure of primary schools across the city from Saturday onwards and also banned the entry of trucks, other than the ones carrying essentials, into the national capital.

The government has also constituted a six-member committee to monitor the trucks entering the city.

“Only CNG, Petrol and Electric vehicles will be allowed to enter Delhi. There will also be a ban on medium and heavy vehicles of diesel registered in Delhi, which are not connected to essential services. Small vehicles with diesel engines which are not BS6 compliant will also be banned,” Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Friday.