With smoke and fog reducing visibility across the national capital, Delhi's air quality deteriorated on Sunday morning, slipping into the 'very poor' category with an overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of 371 at 6 am compared to 218 a day earlier. Several areas in the national capital witnessed the Air Quality Index (AQI) crossing the 'severe' mark, with readings beyond 400.
According to SAMEER, which provides the hourly update of the National Air Quality Index (AQI) published by the Central Pollution Control Board, most of the weather stations in Delhi recorded 'Very Poor' air quality. However, in many areas, the AQI has exceeded 400. The highest AQI is 432 in Wazirpur. Breathing such air is harmful not only for the sick, the elderly, and children, but also for healthy people.
- Anand Vihar 384
- Burari: 410
- Chandani Chowk: 407
- Ldhi Road: 306
- ITO" 307
- JLN Stadium: 386
- Dwarka Sector-8: 401
- Mundka: 401
- North Campus: 375
- Okhla Phase-2: 377
- Pusa: 399
Meanwhile, the neighboring Noida and Gurugram also recorded air quality in the 'very poor' category, with an AQI reading of 348 and 350, respectively.
According to the CPCB classification, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51-100 'satisfactory', 101-200 'moderate', 201-300 'poor', 301-400 'very poor' and 401-500 'severe'.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), shallow fog mixed with smoke was observed across both stations, with visibility reduced due to the combined effect of the two. An IMD weather expert attributed the poor visibility to this fog-smoke interaction, which typically occurs when calm winds and pollution levels remain high.
The IMD has further forecast shallow fog on Sunday morning, while maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to hover around 31 degrees Celsius and 18 degrees Celsius, respectively.
