The national capital remained wrapped in a blanket of smog and fog on Thursday morning due to pollution. In the last few days, the air quality in the city which was in ‘poor’ category has further dropped to ‘very poor’ category.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the air quality index (AQI) in the national capital was recorded at 357, which was 279 a day earlier.With the deterioration in air quality, visibility also reduced in many parts of the city.
According to the air quality early warning system for Delhi, the city’s ‘ventilation index’ remains below the optimum level of 6,000 square meters per second. This index indicates the atmospheric ability to disperse pollutants.
According to the ‘Ventilation Index’, weak winds with a speed of less than 10 kilometers per hour and dense fog have prevented the pollutants from being dispersed, due to which the sky has become hazy.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) recorded visibility of 1,000 meters at Palam and 800 meters at Safdarjung at 7:30 am. The air condition remained calm at both the places.
Areas like Dutta Path, Anand Vihar, Burari and Akshardham remained covered with fog in the early hours of the morning.
According to CPCB data, the air quality reached ‘severe’ category in Vivek Vihar and Anand Vihar, where the AQI was recorded at 415 and 408 respectively. A total of 33 monitoring stations in Delhi recorded air quality above 300, which falls in the ‘very poor’ category.
According to the CPCB classification, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 to 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 to 200 ‘moderate’, 201 to 300 ‘poor’, 301 to 400 ‘very poor’ and 401 to 500 ‘severe’.
IMD said that the minimum temperature in Delhi was 20.1 degrees Celsius, which is four degrees above normal, while the humidity was recorded at 90 percent at 8:30 am. The maximum temperature is likely to be around 30 degrees Celsius with light fog in the evening.