Delhi air quality 'moderate' with AQI recorded at 193 today

The overall quality of the air in the national capital significantly improved to a 'moderate level' on Wednesday with the AQI recorded at 193 by the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR). The city recorded an AQI of 286 (Poor) on Tuesday.

According to the SAFAR, the IIT Delhi area today recorded PM 10 at 125 and PM 2.5 at 132, which is reported as moderate, while the Delhi University area recorded PM 10 at 148 and PM 2.5 'poor' at 228. The Particulate Matter (PM) level at Pusa Road was also recorded as moderate at PM 10 level at 140 and PM 2.5 at 183; Mathura road had PM 10 at 155 and PM 2.5 at 166.

Air Quality Index is a tool for effective communication of air quality status to people in terms, which are easy to understand. It transforms complex air quality data of various pollutants into a single number (index value), nomenclature and colour. The Air Quality Index from 0 to 100 is considered as good, while from 100 to 200 it is moderate, from 200 to 300 it is poor, and from 300 to 400 it is said to be very poor and from 400 to 500 or above it is considered as severe.

Amid continuing poor air quality, the Sub-Committee for invoking actions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) held a meeting on November 18 to review the progress of the actions implemented under Stage II along with Stage I of the GRAP in the entire NCR. As per the dynamic model and weather/ meteorological forecast provided by IMD/ IITM, the overall air quality is likely to fluctuate largely between 'Poor' to lower end of 'Very Poor' categories in the next few days. The predominant surface wind is predicted to be coming from the North/ North-West direction in Delhi, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said.

The Sub-Committee of the Commission is closely watching the situation and will review the air quality scenario accordingly.