The breeze signals the changing season, but the winter is yet to arrive. However, the national capital’s air quality has deteriorated sharply over the past three days. Since Friday, Delhi’s air quality index more than doubled as dry weather and slower winds allowed pollutants to accumulate.
The AQI, 90 on Friday, rose to 159 on Saturday and 187 on Sunday, as per the Central Pollution Control Board data.
Meanwhile, the temperature in and around the national capital dropped drastically following the brutally cold on Sunday. Delhi’s temperature settled at 17.1 degrees Celsius, 1.3 degrees below the season’s normal, the IMD said. No rainfall is forecast over the coming week.
However, the air quality remains a matter of concern. On Sunday, 22 monitoring locations across the city recorded poor air quality, indicating that the pollution levels were severely elevated. The worst air quality of 430 was recorded at ITO, placing it in the severe category.
Earlier on Saturday, Anand Vihar reported an AQI of 348, while Murga reported 227 and Jahangirpuri registered 212. Both Chandni Chowk and Vivek Vihar and Rohini reported 188 and 187 respectively. Delhi’s AQI is further expected to deteriorate to poor category for the first time in the season.
Ever since 2016, except the COVID-affected year 2020, Delhi has recorded 211 days of good, satisfactory and moderate air quality for this year, its best performance, according to Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa. He added that the number of days with poor, very poor and severe air quality had declined from 166 during the corresponding period in 2016 to 79 this year.