Delhi’s air quality remained unchanged on Sunday as the average Air Quality Index (AQI) reeled under the ‘very poor’ category for the fourth consecutive day.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the average AQI was measured at 314 on Sunday. As such, people did not get any respite from the bad air quality.
Primary pollutants in the city’s air on Sunday were the PM 2.5 microparticles, the CPCB said.
The worst air quality was recorded in Nehru Nagar with an AQI level of 362, followed by Jahangirpuri 352. The AQI value was recorded above 301 in several other areas of the city.
Much to the relief of the people, no area in the city recorded the AQI level in the ‘severe’ zone on Sunday, as per the daily CPCB bulletin.
According to the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), there is a likelihood of the air remaining in the ‘very poor’ category in the next two days.
“The air quality is likely to remain in the ‘very poor’ category from 11.12.2023 to 13.12.2023. The air quality is likely to remain in the ‘very poor’ to ‘poor’ category in the subsequent 6 days,” the IITM said on Sunday.
“The predominant surface wind is likely to come from the Northwest direction in Delhi with a wind speed of 08-16 kmph. The sky will remain mainly clear with mist in the morning on 10.12.2023,” the air quality monitoring agency had said on Saturday.
The Indian Meteorological Department forecasted shallow fog in the morning on Monday with the minimum temperature hovering around 7 degrees Celsius. The relative humidity is likely to remain on the higher side as it was pegged between 88 to 69 per cent on Sunday.
Meanwhile, anti-pollution measures like spraying of water along roads, mechanised dust sweeping, deployment of special teams at the 13 hotspots, deployment of anti-smog guns and other actions are underway in the city in accordance with the Commission for Air Quality Management’s Graded Response Action Plan stages – I & II being in effect across the Delhi-NCR region.
Meanwhile, NCR cities sharing their borders with Delhi, including Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, Noida and Sonipat, continued to register air quality levels in the ‘poor’ zone as the AQI levels remained below 301, the CPCB said.