New Delhi: Delhi’s air quality was on the verge of being classified as ‘ severe’ on Sunday, with an overall AQI score of 382 – the worst recorded in the country that day.
Data showed that fifteen of the city’s monitoring sites reported air quality levels in the ‘ severe’ zone, with AQI readings greater than 400. The city also had its lowest overnight temperature to date, thanks to thick fog and haze that blanketed it in the morning and evening.
The minimum temperature on Sunday was 16.5 degrees Celsius, 1.2 degrees above usual, according to the weather bureau. The national capital’s 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI), which is measured at 4 p.m. every day, was 382, down from 316 the day before.
Anand Vihar, Rajendra Vihar, Bawana, Dwarka, India Jahangirpuri, Mundka’s, NSIT Dwarka, Najafgarh, Gandhi Nagar, Okhla II, Patparganj, Punjabi Bagh, Rohini, Wazirpur, and Vivek Vihar are among the areas with severe air pollution levels. Despite the momentary relief afforded by the breezes, Delhi’s pollution levels rose following Diwali, with a notable increase on Sunday.
Elsewhere in the country, some locations had AQI readings in the ‘ very poor’ category, though still far better than the national capital. Bahadurpura in Telangana had an AQI of 335, Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh had 302, Noida had 313, and Sonipat in Haryana had 321.
An AQI between zero and 50 is regarded as ‘good’, 51 and 100’satisfactory’, 101 and 200’moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400’very poor’, 401 and 450’severe’, and 450 or higher’severe plus’.
According to the weather department, the maximum temperature was 33.2 degrees Celsius, which is 2.7 degrees higher than typical. Throughout the day, the humidity ranged between 64 and 95 percent. According to the weather forecast, shallow fog is expected on Monday morning, with minimum and maximum temperatures of 34 and 17 degrees Celsius, respectively.