Delhi's air quality deteriorates to 'very poor' after brief improvement
What's the story
Delhi's air quality has once again slipped into the "very poor" category on Friday, after a brief improvement over the past two days. The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of the city stood at 310, with Jahangirpuri and Anand Vihar recording the highest AQI of 395 among all stations in Delhi. To note, the AQI stood at 234 (poor) on Thursday, 271 (poor) on Wednesday, and 412 (severe) on Tuesday.
Forecast
Delhi's AQI to remain 'very poor' for 6 more days
The Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) has predicted that Delhi's air quality will remain in the "very poor" category for the next six days. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the current average wind speed of less than 10km/h is not favorable for the dispersion of pollutants in the air. Dense to very dense fog is also expected to form in the region as wind speeds dropped from 20km/h in the last couple of days to 10km/h.
Weather update
Temperature predictions, AQI trends
The IMD predicted that Delhi's maximum and minimum temperatures will be 21-23°C and 6-8°C, respectively, on Friday. Air quality in the neighboring NCR areas didn't show much improvement, either, with the overall AQI at 270 in Gurugram, 344 in Ghaziabad, 334 in Noida, and 362 in Greater Noida. To note, the Central Pollution Control Board classifies AQI levels from 0-50 as "good," 51-100 as "satisfactory," 101-200 as "moderate," 201-300 as "poor," 301-400 as "very poor," and above 400 as "severe."