Delhi's air quality saw a marginal improvement on Thursday morning even as the city braced for a sharper dip in temperatures. At 7 am, the Air Quality Index stood at 300, according to the Central Pollution Control Board. While the overall air quality remained in the poor category, several neighbourhoods continued to report inferior readings.
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Many stations still in ‘very poor’ zone
Out of Delhi's 39 monitoring stations, 19 reported air quality in the very poor range, 14 in the poor range and two in the moderate category. Chandni Chowk (331), RK Puram (344), Rohini (343), Vivek Vihar (319), Bawana (343), Siri Fort (327), Wazirpur (323), Anand Vihar (318), Ashok Vihar (307) and Sonia Vihar (301) were among the worst-affected locations.
Poor category stations included IGI Airport (257), Alipur (284), Aya Nagar (275), Mathura Road (296) and IIT Delhi (287), among several others. The only two stations recording moderate air quality were Dilshad Garden at 196 and Mandir Marg at 179.
The trend was similar in neighbouring cities. Almost all stations in Noida recorded very poor AQI levels. In Gurugram, three out of four stations reported poor air quality, and one registered an inferior level. Faridabad reported comparatively cleaner conditions - most of its stations fell in the moderate bracket.
Delhi's 24-hour average AQI settled at 342 at 4 pm, improving from 372 on Tuesday, though still worse than Monday's 304, CPCB data showed. Nehru Nagar recorded the highest pollution level with an AQI of 378. Other stations in the very poor category included RK Puram, Burari, Anand Vihar, Mundka, Bawana, Vivek Vihar, Alipur, Shadipur and North Campus.
The Air Quality Early Warning System said the city's air quality is likely to remain in the very poor category over the next few days, with mist and haze expected during nighttime. The transport sector contributed 16 per cent of Delhi's pollution on Wednesday. According to PTI, transport emissions are projected to account for 14.3 per cent on Thursday.
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Cold wave to grip capital from Friday
The India Meteorological Department has issued a yellow alert for cold wave conditions on Friday as minimum temperatures are expected to drop to 4-6°C. The IMD forecast moderate fog to continue on Thursday, with the day temperature likely to be around 23°C, while the minimum temperature will remain near 6°C.
Delhi recorded its coldest day of the season on Wednesday with a maximum temperature of 23.7°C, which was 1.6°C below normal. The minimum temperature stood at 6.4°C, 3.1°C below normal. According to the IMD, the second-lowest maximum of the season so far was 24.3°C in November, while the maximum last November was much lower at 14.6°C.
