Another hazy day in city, AQI dips further

FORECASTS SHOW THAT THE AIR QUALITY IS LIKELY TO STAY IN THE 'VERY POOR' CATEGORY TILL AT LEAST MONDAY

- Aheli Das

A layer of smog shot down visibility on Friday as the air remained dense with pollutants, with unfavourable weather conditions keeping the air quality index (AQI) dangerously close to the "severe" category, weather officials said.

While the 24-hour average AQI on Friday was recorded at 380 (very poor) at 4pm, according to the Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB), multiple air quality monitoring stations showed readings that breached the 400-mark.

Of the 32 air monitoring stations that were used to calculate the average AQI, 17 recorded "severe" air levels at 11am, which increased to 18 at 12pm. Delhi's average AQI at 11am was recorded at 390.

However, by 4pm, the total number of stations in the "severe" air zone came down to 12, improving the average for the city.

The reading was still worse than what was recorded a day ago, when AQI was 377, while on Wednesday, it was 352.

Meanwhile, PM2.5 remained the major pollutant in the air, according to CPCB.