New Delhi, 27 Nov (UNI) A day after the pollution monitoring agency withdrew Graded Response Action Plan Stage 3 (GRAP-3) measures, Delhi’s air quality worsened again, with the city’s average AQI rising by nearly 50 points to 377 on Thursday, pushing residents back into the deeper end of the ‘very poor’ air.
On Wednesday, the air quality readings for Delhi stood at 327, according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) 4 p.m. national bulletin with particulate matter, PM 2.5, and PM 10 as the lead polluting agents.
Degrading air quality in the city could be attributed to the calm winds. In the past 24 hours, air flow in the national capital was low with wind speeds gusting up to 6 km per hour, according to the data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The met department has noted similar air flow conditions over the next few days.
Foul air was recorded at all 39 monitoring stations across Delhi, with 14 breaching the ‘severe’ air category. Mundka (435), Rohini (434), and Bawana (430) were the worst affected, and several other stations reported severe pollution levels with readings breaching the 300 level.
As per the CPCB classification, air quality readings between 300-400 fall under the ‘very poor’ category, which causes respiratory illness on prolonged exposure, while AQI levels above 400, in the ‘severe’ category, affect healthy people and seriously impact those with existing diseases.
Meanwhile, no large change was noted in the city’s minimum and maximum temperatures. On Thursday, the minimum temperature stood at 10.4 degrees Celsius while the maximum settled at 25.7 degrees Celsius, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
