Delhi Pollution: Air quality ‘very poor’, AQI recorded at 424

The national capital on Thursday woke up to witness dense fog as air quality was recorded in ‘very poor’ category. The unfavourable meteorological conditions are likely to keep the air quality in the 'poor' category for the next couple of days, according to reports. The major pollutants PM 2.5 were recorded at 374 and PM 10 at 375 (very poor category) in the RK Puram area. In the Anand Vihar area, the Air Quality Index (AQI) PM 2.5 was at 424 and PM 10 at 281. At the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium area, PM 2.5 was at 346 and PM 10 at 352. AQI at Punjabi Bagh Delhi was recorded poor, PM 2.5 was at 411 while the PM 10 was at 361.

Delhi: Major pollutants PM 2.5 and PM 10 in 'Poor' category in Lodhi Road area, according to the Air Quality Index (AQI) data. pic.twitter.com/fWBD95Hnw5

— ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2018

ALSO READ | Delhi feels the chill at 3.6 degrees Celsius, coldest night of season 

On Wednesday, the minimum temperature in the national capital dropped to 3.6 degrees Celsius, the lowest this winter on Wednesday, the Met office had said. "The minimum temperature was recorded at 3.6 degree Celsius, four notches below the season's average. It is the lowest temperature recorded so far this year," it had said. Delhi has been reeling under a cold wave for the past a few days. The fall in temperature is because of cold wave conditions prevailing over northwest India. “The heavy snowfall — early for this time of the year — in Jammu and Kashmir, parts of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, has triggered cold winds that are reaching Delhi. The predicted cold wave conditions are mainly because the sky is clear and in the absence of any cloud layer, the cold winds rapidly cool the earth. 

Delhi is reeling under the menace of air pollution for the past couple of years. The region faced a major air quality crisis last year when severe pollution level forced the shutdown of schools and colleges. In 2016, the government tried to explore the possibility of cloud seeding for artificial rain but the plan never worked out.  

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An AQI between 100 to 200 comes under ‘moderate’ category, 201 and 300 is considered ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’ while between 401 and 500 ‘severe’. The overall PM2.5 (fine particulate matter in the air with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometre) level was recorded at 143 and the PM10 (fine particulate matter in the air with a diameter of less than 10 micrometre) level at 253, according to SAFAR.