Delhi air quality remains ‘very poor’

New Delhi, Nov 2 (Agency) Delhi’s air quality on Wednesday continued to remain in the “very poor” category as the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 378.According to the IMD, the air quality is likely to remain in the “severe” category on Wednesday with the surface wind speed of 4-8 kmph. It said the air quality is likely to improve on Thursday but remain in the ‘very poor’ category. SAFAR, a forecasting agency under the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, said the share of PM2.5 pollutants due to farm fires in Delhi stood at 14 per cent. Meanwhile, PM2.5 and PM 10 concentrations in the city stood at 178 and 374 micrograms per cubic metre.In the NCR, the air quality deteriorate further as the AQI plunged into severe category.

In Noida, the AQI slipped to 406 and continued to remain in the ‘severe’ category, while Gurugram’s AQI stood at 346 and continued to remain in the ‘very poor category.As per SAFAR, data Dhirpur in Model Town dipped to an AQI of 356. The AQI near IGI Airport (T3) also stood in the ‘very poor’ category on Wednesday at 350. The agency said the air quality is likely to remain within ‘very poor’ or ‘lower end of severe’ for next three days due to the combined effect of transport of stubble burning-related pollutants as well as local emissions and weather conditions.