Heat rises, pollution eases

New Delhi: Delhi witnessed a warm Friday as the maximum temperature settled at 26.3 degrees Celsius, 2.9 degrees above the season’s average, while the air quality improved to the ‘moderate’ category at 198, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The minimum temperature was recorded at 9.8 degrees Celsius, 0.4 degrees below normal, the IMD stated.

Station-wise data showed that Pitampura recorded the highest maximum temperature at 28 degrees Celsius, followed by Delhi University at 27 degrees Celsius. Lodhi Road recorded a maximum temperature of 24.8 degrees Celsius, 1.8 degrees above normal. Safdarjung recorded a maximum temperature of 26.3 degrees Celsius, 2.9 degrees above normal, and Ayanagar recorded 26.8 degrees Celsius, 3.3 degrees above normal. The Ridge recorded a maximum temperature of 26.5 degrees Celsius, 2.7 notches above normal, while Palam recorded 23.6 degrees Celsius. The weather office has forecast mainly clear skies with mist during the morning hours on Saturday and Sunday.

On the air quality front, the city’s 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 198.

According to the CPCB’s SAMEER app, during the evening hours, 19 stations were in the ‘moderate’ category, 18 stations in the ‘poor’ category, and one station in the ‘very poor’ category. According to the CPCB, an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 to 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 to 200 ‘moderate’, 201 to 300 ‘poor’, 301 to 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 to 500 ‘severe’. In the morning hours, the air quality was also recorded in the ‘moderate’ category at 9 am, with an AQI reading of 184, CPCB data showed.