After weeks of ‘very poor’ to ‘severe’ air quality, Delhi woke up to relatively clearer sky on Saturday as the city recorded an overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of 235 at 8 am.
According to Central Pollution
Control Board (CPCB), nine recording stations registered air quality in the moderate category. While Mandir Marg logged in AQI of 128, it was followed by Bawana (145) and IGI Airport (148). Jahangirpuri station recorded the worst AQI of 309, followed by Nehru Nagar (297) and Sirifort (289).
Delhi’s overall AQI on Friday stood at 236, compared to 380 recorded the previous day, an improvement driven by strong surface winds of 15-20km per hour.
However, Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) stated that the “outlook for the subsequent six days is that the air quality is likely to be in the very poor category”. This means Delhi will have at least eight consecutive days of very poor air from Sunday.
Recently, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) announced that all measures under Stage III of the existing Graded Response Action Plan have been revoked with immediate effect across the National Capital Region.
However, the commission clarified that restrictions and preventive steps under Stages I and II of GRAP will continue to remain in force throughout the NCR to ensure that air quality does not deteriorate again.
The officials are closely monitoring the situation and an action will be taken if pollution levels rise in the coming days.
Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for moderate to dense fog over the weekend.
