Delhi Air Quality update: Toxic smog engulfs Delhi as air quality hovers near ‘severe’ mark, AQI plummets to…, ‘orange’ alert due to…

Delhi Air Quality update: A thick cover of toxic smog engulfed Delhi on Sunday as air quality in the national capital hovered dangerously close to the ‘severe’ mark, with the city recording an overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of 390, in the ‘very poor’ category.

Delhi air quality remains ‘very poor’

According to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, Delhi’s 24-hour average AQI stood at 390, in the ‘very poor’ category, at 4 pm on Sunday. Data from the CPCB’s SAMEER app showed that 19 of the city’s 40 operational air quality monitoring stations logged AQI levels in the ‘severe’ bracket with Anand Vihar recording highest AQI of 457, while the remaining recorded ‘very poor’ air quality.

Notably, Delhi had seen a brief relief from toxic air earlier in the week as air quality on Wednesday and Thursday had remained well below the 300 mark, in the ‘poor’ category. However, pollution levels spiked on Friday with the city’s average AQI settling at 332, nearly 100 notches higher than Thursday’s reading of 234, CPCB data showed.

The city recorded an overall AQI of 385, in the ‘very poor’ category on Saturday.

An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered “good”, 51 to 100 “satisfactory”, 101 to 200 “moderate”, 201 to 300 “poor”, 301 to 400 “very poor”, and 401 to 500 “severe”, as per CPCB standards.

Met issues ‘Orange’ alert

Meanwhile, on the weather front, the meteorological department has issued orange alert of very dense fog for Monday, with maximum and minimum temperatures likely to hover around 22 and 7 degrees Celsius, respectively.