Delhi air quality turns ‘very poor’ on Wednesday morning; AQI to deteriorate further, predicts SAFAR

New Delhi: The air quality in the national capital was recorded in the ‘very poor’ category on Wednesday morning and is likely to dip further. The AQI is forecasted to deteriorate to the middle-end of the ‘very poor’ category on Thursday. Further deterioration to the higher-end of the ‘very poor’ category is forecasted for Friday. [caption id=“attachment_5983731” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. ANI[/caption] According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi was at 305 in Delhi, in the lower end of ‘very poor’ category at 8:30 am on Wednesday. At Chandani Chowk, the AQI was at 370 with PM 2.5 and PM10 at 356. In the Delhi University area, the level of air pollution was high as the AQI was recorded at 311 at 8.30 in the morning. At several major junctions of the city, the Air Quality Index (AQI) oscillated between ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ category. Major pollutants PM 2.5 and PM 10 were at 206 and 202 respectively, both in the ‘Poor’ category, in Lodhi Road area, according to the Air Quality Index (AQI) data. While in areas such as Airport T3, IIT-Delhi and Noida the AQI was 306, 307 and 320. An AQI between 0-50 is considered ‘good’, 51-100 ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 201-300 ‘poor’, 301-400 ‘very poor’ and 401-500 is marked as ‘severe’. An AQI above 500 falls in the ‘severe plus’ category. The SAFAR model forecast suggests that AQI is likely to stay in the ‘very poor’ category for today and marginally deteriorate in the lower end of the ‘very poor’ category tomorrow. The stubble transport-level winds are north-westerly but the wind speed is high which is not favorable for pollutant accumulation. PM2.5 percent contribution is predicted to touch eight percent today, as per SAFAR’s trending summary.