Delhi’s air improves to ‘poor’

After four consecutive days of “very poor” air, increased wind speed improved the air quality in the Capital to the “poor” level, leading Delhi to clock a 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) reading of 275, according to the Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB's) daily bulletin. The AQI a day prior was 305 (“very poor”.)

- Aheli Das [e-mail]

Throughout the day, the real-time air quality continued to improve; it was 290 at 9am, 286 at 11am and 272 at 6pm.

An AQI of 51 to 100 is classified as “satisfactory”, 101 to 200 is classified as “moderate”, 201 to 300 is classified as “poor”, 301 to 400 is classified as “very poor” and over 400 is “severe", as per the CPCB.

According to CPCB data for Friday, 38 air quality stations were active in Delhi and of them, the one at Anand Vihar, remained in the “severe” range throughout the day, with an AQI of 407 (“severe”) at 6pm, in contrast to “poor” or “very poor” readings across other zones.

However, the overall improvement is likely to remain short-lived, according to forecasts.