Delhi Air Quality "Severe" For Fifth Consecutive Day

The air quality in several areas of Delhi was recorded in the 'severe' category on Saturday as a thick toxic haze lingered over the city for the fifth consecutive day.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the city's maximum temperature stood at 29.5 degrees Celsius, a notch below the season's average.

The city recorded a minimum temperature of 16.6 degrees Celsius, one notch above the normal. The humidity oscillated between 88 per cent and 72 per cent, the IMD said.

The air quality index (AQI) at many places in the National Capital Region (NCR) crossed the 450 mark.

The national capital recorded an AQI of 433 at 7 pm, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

The AQI at Anand Vihar was 488. It was 487 at Shadipur, 474 at Wazirpur, 465 at Punjabi Bag, 454 at Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, 463 at Bawana, 448 at Okhla and 459 at Rohini, the CPCB data showed.

In Delhi-NCR, the AQI in Greater Noida stood at 498 at 7 pm. It was 408 at Ghaziabad, 441 at Faridabad and 423 at Gurugram, the CPCB said.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'. The IMD has forecast shallow fog for Sunday. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to hover around 30 and 17 degrees Celsius respectively, it said.

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