Light rainfall on Sunday evening provided some relief to the deteriorating air quality in Delhi, bringing the Air Quality Index (AQI) down from the ‘very poor’ to the ‘poor’ category. The AQI was recorded at 273 early Monday morning, marking an improvement from 302 at 4 PM on Sunday. The AQI with a 24-hour average of 273 is slightly worse than Saturday’s 233 but significantly better than the ‘very poor’ levels seen on Sunday. Most of the 38 monitoring sites in Delhi are under the AQI ‘poor’ category, with four stations reporting ‘moderate’ levels.
Apart from these regions, other NCR areas like Noida, Gurugram, Manesar, and Farukhnagar in Haryana are expected to experience mild rainfall tomorrow evening. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has also forecast fog for Monday.
First ‘very poor’ reading in December
The 302 AQI recorded on Sunday marked the first day of ‘very poor’ air quality in December after the city saw ‘moderate’ air quality earlier this month, a level not observed since mid-October. The last ‘very poor’ reading was recorded as 346 on 30 November.
“An evaluation committee reviewed the system and found that its data and accuracy were not in line with the terms of reference set for the model. It was also observed that some of the data or the emissions inventory being used was outdated,” an official from the Commission for Air Quality Management told on Sunday.
Meanwhile, homeless and those facing financial hardships took refuge in night shelter homes setup by the Delhi government amid the inclement weather conditions. Night shelters have been setup in several areas of the national capital including AIIMS, Lodhi road and Nizamuddin flyover.
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