NEW DELHI: Delhi’s air quality showed some improvement on Wednesday morning, with the national capital recording an overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of 299 in the ‘poor’ category at 7am, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data.Delhi’s air quality deteriorated after Diwali celebrations on Sunday. The persistent pollution has been compounded by falling temperatures and moderate fog, news agency ANI reported.The Delhi government is taking measures to minimise the impact of particulate matter, including deploying water sprinklers across the state.However, air quality at several monitoring stations remained in the ‘very poor’ category.Chhawla recorded the highest AQI at 396, followed by Chandni Chowk at 379, DTU and IIT Delhi at 375 each, and North Campus at 374.Other locations in the ‘very poor’ category included ITO (367), Burari Crossing (362), Pusa (359), NIH Narela (352), NSUT Jaffarpur (351), NSIT Dwarka (350), CRRI Mathura Road (348), Punjabi Bagh (341), JNU (339), Aya Nagar (337), Talkatora Garden (331), Vivek Vihar (326), Sirifort and Wazirpur (321 each), Jahangirpuri (320), Burari (315), Badarpur (312), Mundka (305), Anand Vihar and Bawana (304 each), and RK Puram (300).Meanwhile, several other locations recorded air quality in the ‘poor’ category. Rohini and Ashok Vihar recorded an AQI of 298 each, followed by Dwarka-Sector 8 (295), Jharoda Kalan (289), IGNOU Maidan Garhi (287), IGI Airport (T3) (282), Alipur (279) and Uttam Nagar (259). IMD Lodhi Road recorded the lowest reading in this category at 203.In the neighbouring NCR, Greater Noida recorded an AQI of 240, while Noida recorded 278. Both were in the ‘poor’ category. Gurugram also recorded a ‘poor’ AQI of 292, ANI reported.A day earlier, Delhi had recorded an AQI of 307 at 7am on Tuesday, placing it in the ‘very poor’ category.On Monday, the national capital woke up to a thick blanket of smog, with several monitoring stations recording AQI levels above 400, in the ‘severe’ category.According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Delhi recorded a morning temperature of 20°C, with sunny conditions.Under the CPCB classification, an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51-100 ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 201-300 ‘poor’, 301-400 ‘very poor’ and 401-500 ‘severe’.(With agency inputs)
