The Central Pollution Control Board said that the Air Quality Index (AQI) for Delhi was 268 on Saturday, keeping the city’s air quality in the “poor” category for the fifth consecutive day. PM2.5 and PM10 were Delhi’s main pollutants. Show images of how the pollution impaired visibility throughout the city.
The day of Dhanteras and two days prior to Diwali, when the AQI is predicted to significantly decline, coincide with the bad air quality. The AQI for Delhi was 254 on Friday, October 17, 245 on Thursday, 233 on Wednesday, and 211 on Tuesday. Prior to that, Delhi’s air quality was classified as “moderate.”
With an AQI of 324 on Saturday, Ghaziabad’s air quality was at its worst, falling into the “very poor” category, according to CPCB data. The AQI for Ghaziabad was 307 on Thursday and 306 on Friday, indicating that the city’s air quality has been “very poor” over the past three days. AQI values between 0 and 50 are regarded as “good,” 51 to 100 as “satisfactory,” 101 to 200 as “moderate,” 201-300 as “poor,” 301 to 400 as “very poor,” and 401 to 500 as “severe,” according to the CPCB.
As Diwali draws near, Delhi’s run of “poor” air is probably going to continue for the next few days. The Delhi Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) states that “from Saturday to Sunday, the air quality is very likely to be in the poor category.” If there are any more firework emissions on Monday, the air quality is probably going to be in the top end of the extremely poor category.
The air quality is predicted to be in the poor category for the next six days, rising to the top end of the extremely poor category on Tuesday. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reports that the temperature in Delhi reached a high of 33.5 degrees Celsius on Saturday and a low of 19.6 degrees Celsius. The weather service has forecast haze or light fog in a number of locations in Delhi on Sunday morning.
