Delhi’s air quality index stood at 339 at 8 am on Thursday. (file)
New Delhi:
The air quality in Delhi improved to the “poor” category on Thursday due to intermittent rains, while the city recorded a maximum temperature of 21.1 degrees Celsius, two notches above the season’s average.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, Delhi’s 24-hour air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 258 at 4 pm on Thursday.
The AQI of its neighboring cities – Faridabad (219), Noida (252), Gurugram (224) – was also recorded in the “poor” category.
However, the AQI in Greater Noida (182) and Ghaziabad (179) was recorded in the “moderate” category.
At 8 am on Thursday, the national capital’s AQI was 339, which falls in the ‘very poor’ category.
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 and 100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, and 401 and 500 “severe”. .
“The AQI has improved to ‘poor’ category today (Thursday) due to wet deposition of particulate matter due to intermittent rain yesterday. On January 8, rain with high wind speed likely to cause wet deposition The AQI will improve due to this and the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) said, the stronger spread has resulted in the AQI in the ‘low end of poor’ or ‘moderate’ category.
It predicted that after January 9, air quality is likely to deteriorate due to gradual decrease in wind speed along with maximum and minimum temperatures, all of which contribute to less dispersion of pollutants.
It was a cloudy morning in the national capital with the minimum temperature settling at 11.7 degrees Celsius, five notches above normal.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the day’s maximum temperature was recorded at 21.1 degrees Celsius, two degrees above the season’s average.
“Friday will be generally cloudy with light rain or drizzle. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 21 degree Celsius and 12 degree Celsius respectively on Friday,” the Met office predicted.
The IMD said the city received 9 mm of rain in the last 24 hours between 8.30 am on Wednesday and 8.30 am on Thursday.
The IMD said the relative humidity in Delhi at 5.30 pm was 71 per cent.
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