Delhi air quality improves to 'Poor' category with overall AQI at 286

The air quality in the national capital improved from the 'Very poor' category yesterday to the 'Poor' category on Tuesday morning with an overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of 286, as per the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR). The city had recorded at 316 on Monday morning.

However, the AQI around the Delhi University area remained in the 'Very poor' category today with an AQI of 326. The quantity of PM10 in the air was recorded at 194 (medium), while PM2.5 was reported to be at 116 (poor) in the national capital, according to SAFAR.

As per the SAFAR data, the air quality in Noida was recorded in the 'Very poor' category with 312 AQI while the AQI was reported in the 'Poor' category at 266 in Gurugram. Air Quality Index is a tool for effective communication of air quality status to people in terms, which are easy to understand. It transforms complex air quality data of various pollutants into a single number (index value), nomenclature and colour.

The Air Quality Index from 0 to 100 is considered as good, while from 100 to 200 it is moderate, from 200 to 300 it is poor, and from 300 to 400 it is said to be very poor and from 400 to 500 or above it is considered as severe. Amid continuing poor air quality, the Sub-Committee for invoking actions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) held a meeting on November 18 to review the progress of the actions implemented under Stage II along with Stage I of the GRAP in the entire NCR.

As per the dynamic model and weather/ meteorological forecast provided by IMD/ IITM, the overall air quality is likely to fluctuate largely between 'Poor' to lower end of 'Very Poor' categories in the next few days. The predominant surface wind is predicted to be coming from the North/ North-West direction in Delhi, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said. The Sub-Committee of the Commission is closely watching the situation and will review the air quality scenario accordingly.