Delhi air quality improves to ‘moderate’, sky clear

New Delhi: Delhi’s air quality on Thursday improved further with the AQI shifting to ‘moderate’ zone as breeze cleared up the hazy sky bringing relief to people in the national capital.

The city’s average Air Quality Index (AQI) was 194, marking a significant improvement from yesterday’s 282 on a scale of 500, classified as ‘poor’.

From November 23 to December 5, the air quality in the city had remained ‘very poor’, with toxic smog disrupting normal life and even the India-Sri Lanka Test match at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium.

However, it had shown a marked improvement on Wednesday from Tuesday’s index of 378.

According to the Central Control Room for Air Quality Management of the CPCB, the concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) breached the 24-hour safe limit of 80 micrograms per cubic metre (ug/m3) in areas such as R.K. Puram (139.27), Anand Vihar (104.27) and Dilshad Garden (85.20) in the evening. Though the air quality index had improved to ‘poor’ on Wednesday, a toxic haze continued to envelope Delhi. Dipankar Saha, Air Lab Chief of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), had on Wednesday said, “Air quality is improving every hour and we hope it will continue to improve.”