Air very poor’ for 13 straight days

Slowing winds gripped Delhi in a smog blanket on Monday, keeping the air quality index (AQI) at the "very poor" level for the 13th day in a row.

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Delhi recorded a 24-hour average AQI of 352, a marginal drop from an AQI of 334 ("very poor") recorded a day earlier, according to the Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB's) daily bulletin.

Experts said that winds with speeds of 10 kilometre per hour (km/hr) were recorded over the weekend, but this dipped to 4-6km/hr on Monday, trapping pollutants and making dispersion more difficult. Although a rise in wind speed is likely over next three days, AQI is forecast to be "very poor" till Thursday.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said fog was reported in the early hours of the day, with smog reported in the second half of the day. The lowest visibility recorded was 700 metres, at the Safdarjung observatory, at 7 am.