New Delhi, Dec 26 (UNI) In line with the forecast, the air quality in the national Capital continued to worsen, as the strong winds that brought relief from ‘severe’ air recorded in the city began to die down from Thursday onwards.
Strong winds that picked up on Tuesday evening deteriorated from Thursday onwards, and are likely to decline during the evening and morning hours, reducing to less than 5 kmph, according to a forecast from the Centre’s Early Warning System (EWS) on Air Quality Management in Delhi.
At 4 pm on Friday, Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) touched 333, breaching the 300 mark, returning to the ‘very poor’ category, and is expected to stay there in subsequent days.
Bawana was the worst affected in Delhi, with AQI readings peaking at 411, breaching the ‘severe’ mark. Jahangirpuri (408), Anand Vihar (404), Narela (401), and Vivek Vihar (401) were the others that recorded hazardous air levels.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), AQI levels between 101-200 are categorised as ‘moderate’, between 201-300 as ‘poor’, and 301-400 as ‘very poor’. The levels above 400 are classified as ‘severe’. Long-term exposure to ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ causes breathing discomfort and illness among vulnerable as well as healthy individuals.
The weather department on Friday forecast moderate to dense fog for next two days and shallow to moderate fog during morning hours thereafter.
Meanwhile, the city maximum temperature stood at 22.3°C, departing nearly 1.6 degrees from normal while the minimum dropped to 7.7°C, remaining in near normal range.
