New Delhi: Delhi’s air quality remained in the ‘very poor’ category on Saturday, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 358 at 6:05 a.m., according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) Sameer app. The national Capital continued to experience harsh cold wave conditions, with the minimum temperature dropping to 5.4 degrees Celsius.
On Friday morning, the AQI stood at 318, which was also classified as ‘very poor’. Delhi has been reeling under deteriorating air quality over the past several days, with many areas reporting AQI levels ranging from ‘very poor’ to ‘severe’, as per CPCB data.
Areas that recorded ‘severe’ air quality included Nehru Nagar with an AQI of 426, Anand Vihar at 422, Vivek Vihar at 408, and Sirifort at 404. Several other locations were placed in the ‘very poor’ category, including Patparganj (400), Dwarka Sector-8 (399), Okhla Phase-2 (398), JLN Stadium (394), RK Puram and Chandni Chowk (390), Rohini (372), Punjabi Bagh and Mundka (368), Ashok Vihar (359), Bawana (346), Aya Nagar (344), IGI Airport Terminal-3 (325), and Alipur (302).
Meanwhile, Burari Crossing recorded an AQI of 300 and Pusa IMD registered 290, both falling under the ‘poor’ category.
As per CPCB standards, an AQI between 0 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’.
Alongside poor air quality, cold wave conditions continued to persist in the city. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported that the minimum temperature dropped to 5.4 degrees Celsius at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday. A cold wave in the plains is declared when the minimum temperature falls to 10 degrees Celsius or below and is at least 4.5 degrees Celsius below normal.
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The city had earlier recorded its lowest minimum temperature of the year so far, and the third lowest of the season, at 5.8 degrees Celsius on Thursday morning. According to the IMD, cold conditions are expected to intensify across North India until January 15. A yellow alert has been issued for light to dense fog during morning hours, with partly cloudy skies and foggy conditions likely to continue until January 13. The maximum temperature in Delhi is also expected to drop to around 15 degrees Celsius in the coming days.
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