Delhi air quality dips to ‘poor’ category, AQI reaches 249 (Lead)

New Delhi, Oct 25 : The air quality in the national capital again dipped to "poor" quality as the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of the city reached 249 on Wednesday evening, according to data from the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).

Earlier on Wednesday morning, air quality in the national capital had slightly improved and entered into "moderate" category as the overall AQI of the city reached 190.

However, on Wednesday evening, the AQI at Dhirpur with PM 2.5 was at 306, under "very poor" category.

The 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".

In Pusa, the AQI recorded PM 2.5 at 208 or "poor".At Lodhi Road, the Air Quality Index with PM 2.5 concentration was at 215 under the "poor" category and the PM 10 stood at 150 also under the "moderate" category.

At IIT Delhi station, the PM 2.5 was at 225 or "poor" category while the PM 10 reached 163 in "moderate" category.

The Air Quality Index at the citys Mathura Road was under "moderate" category with PM 2.5 at 161 with PM 10 concentration at 145.

According to the forecast from the SAFAR, the air quality of the city will deteriorate further under "poor category" with PM 2.5 reaching 273 and the PM 10 concentration at 168 under "moderate" category on Thursday.

The Air Quality Index of Delhi’s neighbouring cities of Noida stood at 256 and the PM 10 concentration at 249, both under "poor" category, while Gurugrams AQI was reported at 156 and the PM 10 concentration at 128 under "moderate" category.

ssh/vd