NEW DELHI: The city’s air quality remained ‘very poor’ on Monday with authorities predicting further increase in pollution level with reduced wind speed and other unfavourable weather conditions. According to the data on Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) website, the overall air quality index (AQI) for the National Capital was 337, which falls in ‘very poor’ category.
An AQI between 100 to 200 comes under ‘moderate’ category, 201 and 300 is considered ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, while 401 and 500 is ‘severe’.The air quality is predicted to deteriorate further in the next three days with declining wind speed and low temperature. These weather conditions do not let dispersion of pollutants, which remain trapped in the city’s air.
“The air quality will remain in very poor category only for the next three days with incremental changes. Other meteorological factors are not favourable for dispersing pollution. Minimum temperature has declined and boundary layer is lowered,” according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting (SAFAR), under the Ministry of Earth Sciences. The concentration of PM 2.5 (Particulate Matter) and PM 10 in Delhi’s air were 150 and 277 microgramme per cubic metre (ug/m3).
Delhi recorded its best air quality in over two months on Thursday after rain washed away pollutants, but this was short lived as it slipped into the ‘poor’ category on Friday. Ghaziabad and Noida recorded ‘very poor’ air quality while in Faridabad it was in the ‘poor’ category. In Gurgaon it was ‘moderate’, the CPCB said.