Delhi air quality improves, AQI at 218 in 'Poor' category

New Delhi: The air quality in the national capital continued to improve on Monday morning, although the overall AQI docked at 218, which falls in the 'poor' category.

More relief is in the offing for the residents, with light rain likely in the next three days that is expected to clear out the pollutants from the air.

In several places of Delhi, the AQI hovered between 'moderate' and 'poor' category. At Pusa Road, the PM 2.5 level was at 182 while PM 10 level read at 132, both of which falls in the 'moderate' category as of 8:30 am.

At Lodhi Road, the PM 2.5 level was at 201 ('poor' category) and PM 10 level docked at 125.

However, at Chandni Chowk, a congested area in Old Delhi, the AQI levels were unhealthy. The PM 2.5 level read 328 ('very poor') while PM 10 level was 246 ('poor').

"I have been wearing a mask due to the rise in pollution levels. I have been taking precautions since I have respiratory issues. Hope, pollution decreases in the coming days," Manish Kumar, a student, told ANI.

An AQI between 0-50 is considered 'good', 51-100 'satisfactory', 101-200 'moderate', 201-300 'poor', 301-400 'very poor' and 401-500 is marked as 'severe'. An AQI above 500 falls in the 'severe plus' category.

On Sunday, the overall AQI in Delhi was recorded at 239.

Elsewhere in NCR, PM 2.5 level docked at 279 ('poor') while PM 10 level was at 143 ('moderate'). In Noida, the PM 2.5 level was recorded at 166 and PM 10 level docked at 170, both of which falls in 'moderate' category, according to SAFAR.

During winter each year, most of northern India suffers from a spike in toxicity in the air due to the change in weather patterns and crop residue burning in the neighbouring states of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

As per IMD, strong surface winds are expected during day time that is expected to further improve the air quality. Light rain or drizzle is likely to occur in several areas of Delhi from November 25 to 27.

On Sunday, the maximum temperature in the national capital was recorded at 26.8 degrees Celsius while the minimum temperature read 15.3 degrees Celsius.