Delhi’s air quality improves slightly but remains ‘very poor’ for 4th day
New Delhi: Delhi’s air quality showed a slight improvement on Thursday but continued to remain in the “very poor” category for the fourth straight day, with stronger surface winds helping disperse pollutants across the city.
According to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the national capital recorded a 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) of 305 at 4 pm. Anand Vihar registered the highest pollution levels with an AQI of 410. Out of 38 monitoring stations, 23 reported “very poor” air quality, while 14 fell under the “poor” category, the CPCB’s Sameer app showed.
Delhi ranked as the fifth most polluted city in India on Thursday, while Bahadurgarh, on the city’s outskirts, reported an AQI of 325. In contrast, neighbouring NCR cities—Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad—recorded comparatively better conditions, all falling within the “poor” category with AQI levels in the 200 range.
Despite a faint haze during the day, wind speeds between 10 and 15 kmph in the afternoon aided the partial clearing of pollutants. However, forecasts from the Centre’s Air Quality Early Warning System (EWS) suggest that the air quality is expected to remain “very poor” until Saturday, after which it may fluctuate between “poor” and “very poor” over the following week.
The CPCB defines AQI levels between 0–50 as “good”, 51–100 “satisfactory”, 101–200 “moderate”, 201–300 “poor”, 301–400 “very poor” and 401–500 “severe”.
Data from the Decision Support System (DSS) indicated that transport emissions contributed 15.7 per cent to Delhi’s overall air pollution on Thursday. Residential activities accounted for 4 per cent, industries within Delhi and its periphery 3.4 per cent, emissions from neighbouring cities 4–5 per cent, and other unidentified sources made up 35 per cent.
Meanwhile, satellite imagery detected 69 incidents of stubble burning in Punjab, three in Haryana and 44 in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, which may add to the region’s pollution load in the coming days.
On the weather front, Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 32.2°C—0.1 degree above normal—and a minimum of 18.1°C. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted mist on Friday morning, with temperatures expected to hover around 32°C and 18°C.
