The air quality in Delhi and its surrounding areas once again worsened overnight, following a slight improvement the previous day, and forecasts indicate that significant relief is unlikely in the coming days.
At 8 am on Monday, the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 338, representing a deterioration from 301 at 4 pm and 290 at 7 am on Sunday. The 24-hour average AQI, recorded at 4 pm daily, was 319 on Saturday, 405 on Friday, and 419 on Thursday.
Neighboring areas such as Ghaziabad (306), Gurugram (239), Greater Noida (288), Noida (308), and Faridabad (320) also experienced a decline in air quality. The AQI scale categorizes air quality from zero to 50 as ‘good,’ 51 to 100 as ‘satisfactory,’ 101 to 200 as ‘moderate,’ 201 to 300 as ‘poor,’ 301 to 400 as ‘very poor,’ 401 to 450 as ‘severe,’ and above 450 as ‘severe plus.’
On Saturday, the Centre lifted stringent restrictions, including a ban on construction work related to linear projects and the entry of polluting trucks into Delhi. This decision was made in light of a decrease in air pollution levels attributed to favorable wind speed and direction.
