NEW DELHI: Delhi and NCR air quality remained ‘poor’ on Sunday and is likely to deteriorate further amid a dip in the mercury and the wind speed.
While, Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) was 245 at 9 am, the average 24-hour AQI was 236 in Faridabad, 242 in Gurgaon, 268 in Noida, 273 in Greater Noida and 300 in Ghaziabad, according to the CPCB’s Sameer app.
The 24-hour average was 231 on Saturday, 137 on Friday, 302 on Thursday and 413 on Wednesday.An AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 and 100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, and 401 and 500 “severe”.
The maximum wind speed was 15 kmph on Saturday. It is likely to be 8 to 12 kmph on Sunday and Monday, according to the India Meteorological Department. Winds are predicted to slow down on Sunday. Therefore, Delhi’s air quality is likely to deteriorate further and remain in the “poor” to “very poor” category over the next two days, it said. The minimum temperature was 7 degrees Celsius on Sunday and the maximum is predicted to settle around 26 degrees Celsius, the weather department said.
Calm winds and low temperatures trap pollutants close to the ground, while favourable wind speed helps in their dispersion.
With PTI inputs