Delhi woke up to another day of hazardous air quality on Friday, with the city`s overall AQI recorded at 309 at 9 am, while temperatures began to dip as well.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board`s (CPCB) hourly air-quality bulletin, the city recorded an overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of 311.
Out of 38 monitoring stations in the national capital, 26 reported air quality in the `very poor` category. Bawana was the most polluted area, with an AQI of 366, followed closely by Jahangirpuri at 348.
Several monitoring station across the city recorded `very poor` air quality, as Anand Vihar reported an AQI of 332, Alipur 316, Ashok Vihar 332, Burari Crossing 345, Chandni Chowk 354, Dwarka Sector-8 310, ITO 337, Mundka 335, Narela 335, Okhla Phase 2 307, Patparganj 314, Punjabi Bagh 343, RK Puram 321, Rohini 336 and Sonia Vihar 326 — all categorized as `very poor` as of 8 am according to the CPCB live air quality index.
Monitoring stations like Aya Nagar reported an AQI of 261, IGI Airport 259, JLN Stadium 296, Lodhi Road 224 and Najafgarh 265 – all categorized as `poor`.
The CPCB defines the AQI ranges as follows: 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 is satisfactory, 101-200 is moderate, 201-300 is poor, 301-400 is very poor, and 401-500 is severe.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) informed that Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 12.7 degrees Celsius, 1.6 notches below normal, while the relative humidity at 8.30 am was 67 per cent. The maximum temperature is likely to hover around 26 degrees Celsius.
A layer of shallow fog is anticipated to persist throughout the day, resulting in low visibility in several parts of the city, according to the IMD.
Truck-mounted water sprinklers were deployed at several areas in the national capital to combat air pollution.
Winter has also begun to set in, as several areas in Delhi today woke up to a thick layer of haze. According to the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of around 12 degrees Celsius on November 6.
Since Diwali, the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) has been reeling under the `poor` and `very poor` categories in several areas, even as Stage 2 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) remains in effect.
(With inputs from Agencies)