NewDelhi: In a respite for the Delhiites, the national capital on Friday morning woke up to improved air quality in Delhi and areas surrounding it. The air pollution level in the Delhi-NCR dipped with the Air Quality Index (AQI) reaching the lower end of the ”Poor” category. In the morning, the AQI in Delhi docked at 201, according to the Center-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).
The early morning temperature dipped to 7.4 degrees Celcius, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The AQI was recorded the highest in Dhirpur at 259, followed by Chandni Chowk at 239, Mathura Road at 238, IIT Delhi at 225, Airport (T3) at 204, Delhi University at 193, Ayanagar at 173, Pusa at 166 and Lodhi Road at 159. The AQI in Noida stood at 287 and Gurugram at 192.
An AQI between 0-50 is considered `good`, 51-100 `satisfactory`, 101-200 `moderate`, 201-300 `poor`, 301-400 `very poor` and 401-500 is marked as `severe`. An AQI above 500 falls in the `severe plus` category. During winter each year, most of northern India suffers from a spike in toxicity in the air due to the change in weather patterns and crop residue burning in the neighbouring states of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
The temperature at 5.30 am in Delhi’s Safdarjung was 6.6 degrees Celcius and Palam at 7.4 degrees Celcius. The visibility at Safdarjung was 800 metre and Palam was 300 metres. The national capital also witnessed a dense to moderate fog.
The SAFAR model has suggested a marginal deterioration of air quality with AQI dipping to the “Very Poor” category by January 11. Further deterioration towards the middle of the “Very Poor” category is expected by January 12. A fresh western disturbance and associated rainfall are expected in the region by January 13 and likely to influence the AQI positively.
Bureau Report
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