Air quality worsens again, enters upper end of 'poor'

NEW DELHI: The air quality in Delhi deteriorated significantly on Thursday and reached the higher end of the "poor" category, hit by a drop in temperature and slow winds.

- HT Correspondent

The 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 288 ("poor") at 4 pm on Thursday, a sharp drop from Wednesday's 4 pm reading of 199 ("moderate").

Forecasts suggest that the AQI will remain in the "poor" category till Sunday due to a likely drop in wind speeds.

"Delhi's air quality is likely to be in the 'poor' category from December 13 to December 15. The outlook for the subsequent six days shows the air quality is likely to be in 'poor' to 'very poor' range," said the Early Warning System for Delhi (EWS), a forecasting model under the Union ministry of Earth Sciences.