Delhi's air quality improves to 'moderate' category; AQI logged at 158 two days after dropping into 'poor' zone

New Delhi: Delhi’s air quality improved to the ‘moderate’ category on Wednesday morning, after being in the ‘poor’ band for two days. The national capital’s air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 158 at 9.45 am, according to the Central Pollution Control Board. It was 175 at 7.45 am. An AQI between 0-50 is considered ‘good’, 51-100 ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 201-300 is considered ‘poor’, 301-400 is ‘very poor’ and 401-500 is ‘severe’. An AQI above 500 falls in the ‘severe plus’ category. [caption id=“attachment_7659371” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] The city’s air quality index was 254 at 9.42 am, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) on Tuesday. Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 14.5 degrees Celsius, five notches above the season’s average on Wednesday morning. The relative humidity at 8.30 am was 88 percent. The weatherman has forecast generally cloudy sky with the possibility of light rain or drizzle on Wednesday with the maximum temperature likely to settle around 27 degrees Celsius. On Tuesday, Delhi recorded a low of 16.2 degrees Celsius and a high of 27.9 degrees Celsius. “Pollution levels in Delhi-National Capital Region increased marginally on Tuesday, mainly due to slow wind speed, while the situation in the next 48 hours depends on the intensity of rains,” officials had said. The overall air quality index (AQI) in the city read 270 at 4 pm on Tuesday, up from 252 at 4 pm on Monday.